Pokemon Ranger : The Unknown Evil
by Devilboy58
Summary: Team Dim Sun has return, with a new leader. Pokemon Ranger Kate was called to stop them again. Will Kate be able to stop the newly reformed Team Dim Sun with her new friends? Or will they finally wins? But there is something dark lurking behind them, something which is a much higher threat than Team Dim Sun. Who and what is it? [Slight HoennShipping and mention of AlmiaShipping]
1. Arrival

**DB : Hey guys, sorry for not updating my other stories, caz I was in Hiatus from story making for a few months... Also, I came up with the crappiest title for the story ever, yay!**

**May : So, when are you going to start updating them again?**

**DB : I don't know, to be honest... I have seem to forgot where I left off...**

**May : And why do you want to start this?**

**DB : Because I wanted to... :3**

**Brendan : So, the disclaimer, Pokemon does not own by Devilboy.**

**DB : And let the new story begin...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1 : Arrival<p>

The bustling city of Castelia is one of many cities of Unova. It was also the centre of economical and trading city of the region, as ships and ferries docked at the docking area. On the streets, there were businessman and woman walking towards their office buildings and other places. It was always crowded with people, moving from places to places.

A certain brunette was on a cruise ship, on her way to Castelia City, to start her new adventure. She had two flaps like hair on both side of the head and her name was May. She wore a blue bandanna, a blue dress to go with her bandanna and a pair of black bikes shorts. She wore a green fanny pack around her waist, which held her pokemons, potions and berries that she always brings with her. But unlike the other regions she travelled, she was planning to capture a few Pokemons around the Unova region. She brought along her Blaziken, Glaceon and Venusaur on her trip, as they would provide some company and protection against wild Pokemons.

Once the ship had docked at one of the port that connected to the city, May got off of the ship, along with the other people before breathing in the smell of sea. "Finally, we're here. I never have thought it would take me 3 days to get here from Hoenn," May said as she rummage through her bag. She found her Glaceon's poke ball before tossing it out. A flash of red light emerged before her Glaceon appeared in front of her.

"Morning Glaceon," May said, patting Glaceon's head as she stretched from sleeping in the poke ball. They then got off of the docking area before they enter the city. "Wow, this is a huge city," May exclaimed out of amazement. There were office buildings, restaurants and a few hotels in the city. May spotted a Pokemon Center that was located in one of the corner of the building and figured she should get a map of the region.

She was amazed at how big the city was and wondered, could Hoenn have a bustling city as well. She just shook the idea out of her head as it couldn't happen. She was now outside of the Pokemon Center and was amazed at how tall the building was. She couldn't help but feel a little dizzy looking at how tall it was.

"Amazing, isn't it," a voice spoke next to her. She yelped as she jumped a bit from the voice. She noticed that the voice was belong to man, who had brunette hair like her, and wore a green shirt, a red scarf and a pair of red and green strip pants with a butterfly belt buckle to secure them. "Sorry to scare you like that, miss..."

"My name is May," May replied as the man bow to her. She blinked a couple of times before the man spoke. "Well, welcome to the bustling city of Castelia City, the center of economics and trades of Unova. And my name is Burgh, the Gym Leader of this city," Burgh said, introducing himself along the line before taking his hand out to shake.

"Oh, nice to meet you," May said with her sweet smile as she shook hands with Burgh. "Wait, you're a Gym Leader?" May finally caught what Burgh said as he nodded. "I specialised in Bug types, but I have no match against you," Burgh replied.

"What makes you said that?" May asked, as she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you have a really strong looking Glaceon here, and it's rare to see an Eevee to evolve into a Glaceon around here," Burgh explained as he kneeled down beside May's Glaceon before patting her head, which she purred.

"Oh, well, you see. I'm here for Pokemon Contest," May replied as she rub the back of her head. Burgh look at her with a blink before standing back up.

"Pokemon Contest?" he asked.

"Yeah, I came here to take part in Pokemon Contest," May said as Brugh just crossed hus arms while shaking his head.

"Sorry to tell you this, but here in Unova, there is no Pokemon Contest. The mayor has cancel the contest a few months ago because of the lack of participants," Burgh explained. May just stared at him, as she was dumbfounded about the news. She came to Unova to take part in Pokemon Contest, but to her horror, there was no contest at all.

"Nooo!" May exclaimed as she cried out of sadness. She had wasted 3 days and money just to get to Unova to learn that they didn't hold any contest. She wanted to win the ribbons and the Grand Festival in Unova, but her dreams was crushed.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure there are other things you could find some fun here," Burgh said, patting May's back as she squat down, drawing some circles on the ground as she was in depressed mood. Burgh just sweatdropped about the girl's reaction as he tried to find a way to make May happy again. "There's an amusement park in Nimbasa City," Burgh told her, but she didn't budge at all.

Burgh just sighed as Glaceon just sat beside May. "C'mon, let's head into the Pokemon Center," Burgh suggested as May reluctant to stand up. Burgh help May to the center, with Glaceon following close behind. Once they entered, they headed towards the table before the gym leader helped May on one of the seats. She just slumped onto the table as her Glaceon sat on the chair beside her.

Burgh just sighed, not knowing what to do now as he rub the temples of his nose. "Okay, now what," he said softly before taking a seat opposite of May. He had a feeling that she would be taking part in something else, which might be an interesting idea.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in another part of the region, a young man was heading his way to the next city, which was Accumula Town. He wore a white hat with green band on his head, a red shirt with a black lining in the middle that starts at the shoulders, a pair of running shoes he got from his dad on his birthday and a pair of black jeans. Beside him was his trusty Swampert, who had been with his since he began his journey.<p>

"We're almost there, Swampert. Just need to stop by at the PokeMart for equipment," the boy said as they headed towards the building with a blue roof. Once they entered, they were greeted with cold air from the air conditioning. He sighed at the feeling of cold air on his skin as he headed to one of the aisle. Along the aisle was full of trainers equipment, ranging from potions to mails. The boy looked through the aisle before taking a couple of ropes and poke balls before heading towards the counter to pay for it.

"That will be 45 Poke dollars," the cashier told him as he paid the amount. He then took the paid items before placing them into his bag before leaving the mart. His Swampert was not willing to leave the air conditioned mart, which Brendan just sighed as he dragged his Swampert out of the mart.

Once they were outside, the boy took out a map of Unova before reading it. "Okay, the town we need to head is Nuvema Town. I need to send these files of the Hoenn climate to Prof. Juniper," the boy informed his Pokemon as he fold the map back before placing it into his bag.

They then set off to the next town for their assignment while he tried to look for a rare Pokemon that was just found recently. He wanted to be the first to catch the rare Pokemon since there was no recorded data of it nor had anyone been able to catch it. Though he heard there were sightings of the Pokemon back in Hoenn.

"C'mon Swampert, let's go!" he yelled as they ran down the route that would take them to the next town. Right after he left, a brunette girl with a ponytail, saw him running off wondering what he was yelling about. She just shrug it off before she head down the other route that will take her to Striaton City.

* * *

><p>Back in Castelia City Pokemon Center, May had just gotten over her ordeal of not being able to participate in any of the Contest since there wasn't any. She was now patting her Glaceon, which was purring, while talking to Burgh. "So, you're a Gym Leader's daughter from Hoenn?" Burgh asked as he sat opposite of her.<p>

"Yeah, though I only participate in contest," May said as she rub the back of her head with her free hand. She wasn't expecting this kind of bad news, but since she was here, she would might as well travel the region, and possibly, challenge the Gym Leaders of the region.

"Oh, I see. Well, you could try something else like challenging the Gym Leaders here, since you're a Gym Leader's daughter," Burgh suggested. May pondered on the suggestion. Sure she's the Gym Leader, Norman, daughter, but challenging the Gyms in Unova when she never have took part before was another story. She had never tried battling for badges before, let alone all the tension of the battle. But she wanted to travel the region and explore all of the cities and towns.

"Okay, I will try it out," May stated as Burgh just smile at her.

"Great. But first of, do you want to get any of the starter Pokemons of this region?" Brugh asked. May thought for a minute before nodding. Sure she had three strong Pokemons with her, but since she wanted to explore the region, she thought why not caught some Pokemons that will help her out. "Alright!" Burgh clasp his hands together before getting up. "You need to head to Nuvema Town that is North of here. I wish I could send you there, but I don't have any flying type Pokemon," Burgh said nervously as May sighed.

"It's alright, Burgh. But I get to try out these new running shows my dad gave it to me," May said as she got off of her seat. Glaceon was a little sad that May stop scratching her head as she enjoyed it. She quickly followed May as they both left the Pokemon Center.

"Okay, Glaceon. Get ready to run with me as I can't wait to try out these running shoes," May stated as she kneel down to reach the button beside the shoe to switch it on. She got up before nodding to her Pokemon.

"Let's go!" with that, she and Glaceon ran down the streets of the city in high speed as air underneath the shoes gave her more speed to move. It was like gliding on air as she wasn't even breathing really hard.

* * *

><p>In another region called Almia, a Pokemon Ranger base was stationed there as two members were busy monitoring and doing their business. One of the Top Ranger was on a mission to clear the Psyducks that was blocking the way, again, in Shinnoh. "Sigh, I wonder how many times did that happen," the Operator said as he leaned back against the chair.<p>

"Well, at least we still have the 2nd Top Ranger here," the Mechanic stated as he was playing his game console.

"Now that you mention, where is she?" the Operator asked as he scanned the base. There were only 2 of them as it was eerily quiet and the only sound was coming from the Mechanic's game console and the sound that was coming from the monitors. _"Wait, sounds? That's the alarm!"_ the Operator thought before he began typing in some keys into the keyboard while he scanned through the monitors.

"What's the matter?" the mechanic asked as he turn his game console off, taking interest of what was going on.

"I don't know, but something's wrong here," he stated as he continued typing in the keyboard. Then he noticed something, the region of Unova was getting some strange signals. The Operator then began typing more words into the keyboard before realising what the signal was about.

"Get the Top Ranger here, now!" he exclaimed as the Mechanic nodded before leaving his seat. "This is not good, not good at all," he stated, as he was worried about what was going to happen.

On the monitor, the signal had actually intercepted a secret call, a call belonging to a secret organization. He didn't know why the signal had managed to intercept it, but it did. And what he got wasn't good. 'We have found a new leader,' the message read out.

* * *

><p><strong>DB : What do you guys think? It's a small crossover between Pokemon and Pokemon Rangers...<strong>

**May : Okay, why is that message so lame?**

**DB : I can't come up with a good one, okay!**

**May : And who is the boy with the Swampert?**

**DB : You'll find out soon.**

**May : And why is there no Pokemon Contest in Unova? I heard that there is one.**

**DB : This is my story, so I can do whatever I want. Do you have any problem with that?**

**May : Nope, not at all. Though I have a question, why am I having just 3 Pokemons with me?**

**DB : Ugh! I just gonna ignore that question and just say, R and R please! And sorry for the short chapter though... :'3**

**May : Oh, and please help DB here with a better title name.**

**DB : Hey!**


	2. Meeting Up

**DB : Welcome back to the story!**

**May : Hurray... *Sarcastic***

**Brendan : *Sweatdrop* Hehe...**

**DB : Anyway, I was amazed at how many people really like this story, which I was motivated to make the 2nd chapter even better.**

**May : Sure, sure, now can we go on with the story?**

**DB : *Sweatdrop* Kate, if you could.**

**Kate : Sure, DB does not own Pokemon, nor Pokemon Rangers.**

**DB : Now on with the story! *Dram...***

**May : Stop with the *Dramatic Pose*!**

**DB : Yes! Still got it!**

**May : Hey! That is just cheating!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2 : Meeting Up<p>

The young man with the white hat had finally arrived at the Nuvema Town without any problems. They encountered a few trainers along the way, but nothing they couldn't handle. His Swampert took out the other trainers Pokemon with just one hit without receiving any injury. This surprised the other trainers as their Pokemon were taken out very easily.

The town was just a quiet neighbourhood, as the people around then place were either shopping for meals for the family or just hanging out with friends. He saw a white lab at the far end of the town. He then headed straight towards the building while checking out on the towns folks. His Swampert was close behind, looking at the vast erray of Pokemon food. He's mouth was now watering from it.

The boy noticed this and just sighed before speaking to his Swampert. "Okay, once I handed the documents to Prof. Juniper, I'll buy you some of those meals, alright?" Swampert head this before nodding. They then headed towards the lab that was a few metres from where they were. The lab was just a double story building, just near the lake that's facing towards it.

They both arrived at the doorstep of the lab before they both entered. Inside there was a room which had a large television screen, a desk in front of it and a sofa facing at the screen. Beside the room was the actual lab, with some Poke balls laying on one of the machine and a machine that can heal Pokemons. But the Prof was no where to be seen as the whole lab was empty, apart from them. "Looks like the prof. is not here," he said to his Swampert. He was about to leave when the door suddenly opened.

"Prof. Ju... who the heck are you?!" a boy with a spec asked as he stood at the doorway. He too was looking for the professor, but on another reason.

"The name is Brendan Birch, what about you?" Brendan asked as his Swampert stood in front of him.

"Heh, it seems that a thief had intruded into Prof's lab. I will help her get rid of you then, and by the way, why should I tell you my name?" the boy asked with a smirk, but Brendan remained cool by his cockyness.

"I don't know, maybe I have some documents she needs, four eyes," Brendan taunted back.

"Oh it's own! White hair!" he replied.

"Why does people mistake my hat for hair!" Brendan exclaimed as his left eyebrow was twitching.

"Fine, we'll settle this with a Pokemon Battle, one-on-one," the boy stated.

"Fine by me, and if I win, you'll tell me your name," Brendan stated with a smirked.

"And if I win?" the other guy asked.

"Then I will just leave the lab," Brendan stated.

"Okay, let the battle, begin!" with that, he tossed out his Poke ball. Out came a plant type Pokemon, that had a snake like body. Brendan knew what kind of Pokemon it was as he had study the Pokemon starters of the Unova region. He may be at a type disadvantage, but he had something up his sleeves.

"Time to fight, Swampert," Brendan stated as his Pokemon nodded. He then jumped a few feet from Brendan before the guy with the specs smirk.

_"This will be an easy win"_ he thought, as he was confident of his upcoming victory.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, May and her Glaceon had just passed the Nacrene City thanks to her running shoes. She doesn't want to waste any time on getting a starter Pokemon from Unova and battling those Gym Leaders. She might need some help with it though, considering the fact that she had never been in a Gym battle before. She was so used to coordinating her Pokemons that she had been really bad in a battle, since she once lost a battle before.<p>

Since then, she tried to avoid any more Pokemon battle whenever she encounter a trainer. She then noticed that her Glaceon was getting a bit tired from all the running, so she slowed down to a stop. "Hey, Glaceon, are you tired from all that running?" May asked as she kneel down beside her. Her Glaceon nodded as May patted her head. She felt sorry for her, running all the way from the city they came from.

"Okay, here, rest for awhile," May stated before taking out a Poke ball. She recalled Glaceon into her poke ball before standing back up. "And now, to continue to Nuvema Town," with that, she began running again.

Back in the lab of Prof Juniper, two trainers were battling out when one of the Pokemons had fainted. It was Serperior, the four eyes boy who lost the battle. But Brendan's Swampert was unscaved by the battle, even though they were at a disadvantage. "You lost, so, what's your name?" Brendan asked as stood in front of the other boy.

"Fine, my name is Cheren, why are you here anyway? Are you planning to steal Prof. Juniper's research files?" Cheren asked as he eyed Brendan.

"No, I'm here on official business from my dad," Brendan stated.

"Business? Who's your dad?" Cheren asked, not buying Brendan's word.

"Prof. Birch, he told me that Prof. Juniper wants to know the weather changes of Hoenn," Brendan explained.

"Wait, Prof. Birch actually has a son? And it's you?" Cheren was utterly dumbfounded at the answer.

"I know, he never inform anyone about it. Though there's this one friend that does knows. We always played together, but..." Brendan stated, but he just stopped halfway through as he looked out the window, sighing about the memory he used to be with her.

"But?" Cheren asked.

"It will be a story for another day. So, anyway, have you seen Prof. Juniper?" Brendan asked.

Cheren just sighed before taking a seat on the sofa. "I wish, she isn't here since this morning," he stated.

Brendan then walked towards the sofa before he slumped down, sighing. He was eager to try out the Gym Leaders of Unova once he sends those documents to Prof. Juniper, but it seems he has to wait even longer. "Well, I guess we'll have to wait for her to return then. Got anything interesting to watch on tele?" Brendan asked as he jumped over the sofa before landing onto the seat while Cheren switch the television on.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the Almia region, a girl with 2 spiky pigtail was walking down a route with a Pachirisu on her shoulder. She was a bit bored about not getting any adventures these days, ever since they taken Team Dim Sun down. "What should we do, Pachi?" she asked her Pokemon as she scratched the Pokemon's head.<p>

On her way to the base, her teammate, Barlow, was running towards her. She noticed that he somehow looked worried, which made Kate nervous about something. Once Barlow stopped in front of her, he bend down, trying to catch his breath before he spoke up. "Crawford found something in Unova, you need to check it out. Let's hurry back to the base, Kate," Barlow stated, which Kate nodded.

She might not be bored anymore, but something in her was saying that something bad was going to happen, something which she wasn't going to like. But as long as she gets to go on an adventure, she was happy to accept the mission. They both ran back to the base as fast as they could, wondering what did Crawford found.

* * *

><p>Back in Unova, May was feeling a bit tired from all that running. She had ran past trainers and a few towns along the way to get to Nuvema Town as fast as possible, since she might get her starter pokemon of the region. She was now in Accumula Town, which was famous for its views over the hills. She might go and climb up a hill to check out the view, but she wanted to get her starter pokemon 1st, she had to wait till then. She took a seat on one of the bench that was available in the park. She grab a bottle of water out of her bag before unscrewing the cap as she chug down the water in it, thirsty from all the running she did.<p>

As she was finishing off with her drink, she took noticed of a blonde girl looking for something. She wore a green beret with a a white bow, an orange vest over a white top, a pair of shorts which reached just below her knees and a green bag over her torso. She had a Samurott beside her as well, helping her finding someone, or something. When they saw May, they quickly ran towards her.

When they stopped in front of May, which surprised her, the girl bowed to her before asking. "Hi, I was wondering, have you seen a young man, who wore a cap and a blue vest, with an Emboar?" she asked, which May was just staring at her, confused.

"Erm, sorry, but I have never seen him before," May replied with a sweatdropped. The blonde just sighed before taking a seat beside her while her Pokemon slept beside her legs.

"Anyway, my name is Bianca, what's your name?" she suddenly asked, which caught May by surprised. She was amazed at how fast the girl could change the subject.

"My name is May, nice to meet you Bianca," May replied, shaking hands with her. Bianca just smile about it as they stop shaking hands.

"I was wondering, where did you live?" she asked.

"Well, I live in a region called Hoenn," May replied, which Bianca blinked at her a few times before she shook her head out of daze.

"Hoenn? Is it a cool place?" she asked, getting excited about it as she clasped her hands together.

"Yes, it is," May replied with a smile, giggling at the fact that Bianca was cheering her up.

"Could I see your Pokemons?" that question startled May a bit, since she was never asked with that question before.

"Sure," May replied as she rummaged through her bag before grabbing 3 of the poke balls. She then tossed them out as 3 Pokemons appeared in front of her, Blaziken, Glaceon and Venusaur.

"Oh cool," Bianca stated, with twinkles in her eyes as she scanned May's pokemons while touching their fur while patting Glaceon's head. She really love it when someone pats her head. "Wow, a Glaceon, it's really rare for someone to evolve them from Eevee here, in Unova," Bianca stated, which May nodded. The Gym Leader, Burgh, told her about it back at the Castelia City.

She then spotted a young lady, who was in her early 20s, was walking towards them. She noticed that she wore a white coat over a white shirt and green skirt that reaches her knees. She had a light brown hair that was tied up into ponytail that curled upwards. May guessed she could be the region's professor, though she doesn't know the name. She was holding a tape recorder on her right hand too, which made May curious on what was recorded.

She was later reminded about her old friend back in her childhood, since her friend's father was a professor. She remembered that he wore a white beanie all the time and never like to take it off. They both always played together at the playground or around Pokemons. She remembered the nickname he gave her too, Skitty. It embarrassed her as she was nicknamed after a Pokemon, but she always wondered why. She thought about asking him, if she ever finds him again.

Her train of thoughts was later broken as someone was asking her. "Miss, are those your Pokemons?" the professor asked her as she sat beside her. May could clearly noticed that the professor was exhausted, but from what, she doesn't know.

"Yes, they are," May replied as the professor stretch her sore body before getting back up.

"Well, do you mind going back to the lab with me so that I can add them to my list of unique pokemon?" she asked as May just stared at her. She then looked back at her pokemons, then back at the professor.

"Sure," May replied before she got up from her seat. She took out 3 poke balls before recalling her Pokemons back into their respected poke balls. She then placed them into her bag before giving a smile to professor. Bianca was a little disappointed that she couldn't admired May's pokemons longer, but when she saw the professor, she was happy again.

"Prof. Juniper! Where were you?" she asked while giving the professor a hug.

"I was video tapping some of the Pokemon that was migrating from east of here, since this morning," the professor explained as she placed her tape recorder into her side pocket. Bianca now understood why she wasn't available since this morning, she was out in the wild, recording some migrating Pokemons that came from other regions.

"Cheren will be happy to hear that you're back," Bianca stated. Professor just sighed as they began their walk back to Nuvema Town, with Bianca skipping along the way. May was excited too, as she couldn't wait to ask the professor if she could get a starter Pokemon. She wanted to start off like any new trainers, but she brought some strong Pokemons with her, in case there was a situation that she couldn't solve. They were right now on their way to Nuvema Town, which held a surprising visitor for them.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back in the lab, Brendan was staring into space as the television was running a show about a superhero saving someone from trouble. He wondered why people likes those kind of stuff anyway. He also noticed that Cheren was sound asleep on the sofa with the control in his hand. Brendan just chuckled at the sight of Cheren sleeping soundly.<p>

He was later reminded about his past friend, back in Littleroot Town. He remembered that she was always with him, playing around with Pokemons and the playground, or in his room playing some toys. The laughed from the girl was the cutest thing he had ever heard, as well as her smile. He gave her the nickname, Skitty, because it fits her so well.

He sighed as he got up before stretching his body before noticing that Swampert was asleep. He just chuckled before leaving him asleep as he left the lab. He took a walk down the path, towards the ocean. The sun was setting over the ocean, thus making the sky turn into a fiery orange hue. There were food stalls all over the street, selling food and drinks since it was dinner time. He was reminded of buying some food for his Swampert, as he did promised him.

Once he was near the edge of the path, he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of the ocean. It reminded him of his old home, back in Hoenn. The smell of the ocean was always calming his nerve system and make him think clearly. The breeze from the ocean was refreshing as well. When he opened his eyes, he saw that there were all kinds of Pokemon, swimming in the ocean and birds, flying over the ocean.

He sighed, before heading back to the lab to wait for Prof. Juniper to return. Along the way, he noticed there were 3 young ladies heading towards the lab, and one of them was wearing a lab coat. Brendan knew who she was as he sprinted down the pathway, anxious about starting his adventure around Unova. He managed to dodge the people, who were crowding the street, without even bumping into them. Though a few people yelled at him to slow down, which he ignored as he cleared the street.

He screeched to halt as he stood right outside of the door. He took a deep breath before he turn the knob, only to get hit in the face as the door was push opened by Bianca. This made him fell backwards, landing on his back as he rub his face. Bianca, on the other hand, was shocked to opened the door right into someone's face, which she quickly tried apologising to him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's alright, I'm fine," Brendan reassured her as he slowly stood up while removing his hand from his injured face. Luckily, there was no blood, but there was a bruise on his nose. He just shook it off as he entered the lab. When he entered, he saw a girl, standing a few feet from the door, was talking to Prof. Juniper. He thought that she might be a friend to the girl that open the earlier. When the girl turned around, he was now gazing right into her eyes. Somehow, those eyes reminded him of someone.

May was shocked to see that a young man, who wore a white beanie, looked really familiar as the eyes was reminding her of someone. She too was gazing into his eyes, noticing how hypnotic it was to see. Their train of thoughts was later broken by a cough, which was from the professor. "Anyway, May, you may choose from any of the 3 starter Pokemons on the machine," she stated, showing her the machine with the 3 poke balls. May nodded before heading towards the machine to choose her Pokemon of the region.

"I'll go with, Oshawott," May said as she took the poke ball.

"Good choice, and I'd see that the reports from the Hoenn region had just arrived. Right, Brendan?" the professor said, looking at Brendan as he nodded. He then took off his bag before rummaging through to reveal some files and papers about the Hoenn's Pokemons and Climate.

"And is that your Swampert?" she asked, as the Swampert began to wake up.

"Yeah," Brendan replied as his Swampert stretched before walking towards him.

"Interesting, 2 fully evolve starter Pokemons from Hoenn. This will certainly go into my index of Pokemons," with that, she took out a journal before beginning to write down some information. Brendan just raised an eyebrow to the professor's way to analysing data. She somehow reminded him of his dad, Prof. Birch.

"So, I was wondering Prof. Juniper, could I get a starter pokemon too?" Brendan asked as he was a bit nervous. He was worried that the professor would say no, but he was surprised on what the professor answered.

"Sure, and you can go with her as well," she said, as May blinked at her a few times.

"Alright," Brendan said as he went to choose his starter Pokemon as well. He went for Snivy, as he wanted to have a good team by keeping it balance. He has Swampert, Rhyperior and Aggron with him. He left his Shiftry back home, since he was feeling sick. He chose Snivy as it could help balance out his team.

"Well then, do you have your Pokedex with you?" the professor asked as she got off of her seat before pulling out a drawer. She then took out a couple of microchip from it before showing it to them. "This will help improve your Pokedex to recognise the region's pokemon," she explained as both Brendan and May took out their Pokedex before handing them to the professor.

She later opened a small compartment located behind the device. She inserted the chip into the compartment before closing it up. She then handed them back their Pokedex. "Try turning it on," she said as both Brendan and May did so.

They were amazed at how many Pokemons were now added to the list. They couldn't wait to start their journey and Brendan hope that it could help with his dad's research on Pokemons. "Thank you so much, professor," they said together before looking at each.

"Oh, and my name is May," she said, taking out her hand, which Brendan shook it.

"Mine is Brendan Birch," he said with a smile. May was again reminded about her childhood friend, which was caused by Brendan's smile and somehow, the name sounded so familiar as well.

"Well then, how about staying for the night?" Prof. Juniper suggested as she looked out the window. It was really dark right now as the stalls had packed up.

"Sure!" they both said the same time, which caused Cheren to wake up from his slumber. May just giggled about how they woke him up with their answer, which Brendan was reminded of someone. He might try to find her once he finished with his journey around Unova. Though he doesn't know that the girl he was seeking was actually right under his nose.

* * *

><p>Back in Almia, Kate and Barlow had returned to the base and was now in front of Crawford's computer. "So, let me get this straight, Team Dim Sun has returned are now in the Unova region? And you want me to go there?" Kate asked, as she was speechless about the situation that she was currently in.<p>

"Yes, and yes. Since Kellyn is busy with the Psyducks in the Sinnoh region, you will need to head there," Crawford stated as he type on the keyboard.

"Alright then. One problem though, how am I travel to the Unova region? I don't even know where it is," Kate stated, crossing her arms as her Pachirisu jumped off from her shoulder onto the table next to her.

"Well, that is where I give you a GPS for the location," Barlow stated, handing her the device that he took it out from his pocket.

"Okay then, so when do I leave?" she asked again, which was giving Crawford a headache.

"Like, right now," he said. Kate just sighed as she stuffed the GPS into her bag that on the table.

"Alright, then I'll just grab a few things and I'm off," with that, she headed down the stairs before walking towards her room.

"You know, you don't have to be mean to her," Barlow stated, as he was a little upset about Crawford's respond to Kate.

"Alright, alright. Anyway, I have picked up another message, stating that it was a former Admin of some criminal organisation, called Team Aqua," Crawford stated, changing the subject as he focused on the matter at hands.

"Team Aqua? I heard they were taken down by some kid. As well as Team Magma," Barlow stated, looking at the screen as he was surprised to hear it too.

"Me too. Something tells me this is going to get worse," he said with dread in his voice. Barlow agreed as they both continued to monitor the Unova region and hoping to intercept another message.

Meanwhile, Kate had finished packing up her stuff that she needed, her handy screwdriver, her 2nd styler in case of emergency and her wireless in ear device. She took her bag before leaving the room, with her Pachirisu on her shoulder. "Well, we better hurry up then," with that, Kate left the base as she was now on her way to Unova, hoping to stop Team Dim Sun from any more evil activities.

* * *

><p><strong>DB : Gosh, this took like, forever to do since I'm always busy with other stuff... <strong>

**May : Finally you gotten the 2nd chapter out!**

**Brendan : Calm down May, I'm sure he has a good reason why he was late in submitting it.**

**DB : *Sulks in a corner***

**Brendan : Anyway, that concludes this chapter. Hope you like the chapter and comment...**

**Kate : The next chapter will be about me, travelling to the Unova region. I might even meet a few OCs too.**

**May : Bye~**


	3. Journey to Unova

**DB : Okay, it seems that the previous chapter didn't receive a lot of comments...**

**May : Just continue the story.**

**Kate : Would this chapter be about me?**

**DB : Right you are.**

**Kate : Yay!**

**Brendan : DB does not own Pokemon nor Pokemon Rangers and so forth...**

**DB : Now on with the story!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3 : Journey to Unova<p>

Kate and her Pokemon, Pachirisu, had been assign to head over to Unova and stop Team Dim Sun again. She knew about Kellyn being in Sinnoh, clearing the path of Psyducks on the route for the trainers to cross. She thought about him having the easy job while she had to stop the evil organisation again, but alone this time. Though it was great that she gets her own mission for once, a mission which was assign to her personally. "I hope that we do a great job in this, right Pachirisu?" Kate stated.

Pachirisu just nodded as they made it to the docks. Upon arrival, there ships of all sizes, from cruise ships to speedboats. She went to one of the boat that was especially design for Pokemon Rangers. It had radio antennas which were much more sophisticated than conventional antennas, a special sonar to pick up submarines and mines, and a cell to hold some criminals whenever they need to. It even have a build in EMP gun, to take out anything that was causing threats to the environment or as self defence. The engine that powers the boat wasn't any normal motor, as it uses the sea water to move by spraying the water out like a powerful jet hose. It's environmental friendly and efficiently to travel over regions to regions.

As Kate got into the driver's seat, she made sure that her partner, Pachirisu, was well buckled too. She then start up the boat, before checking everything as followed for safety. Once everything was done, she placed her GPS on the docking area for the device, showing her the way to the Unova region. With that, she began to accelerate the boat, slowly manoeuvring it out the docks and into the open sea. Once she was clear, she floored the boat, making haste towards Unova.

Along the way, she puts the boat in autopilot before unbuckling from her seat. The boat was now in a cruising speed, allowing Kate to concentrate on other matters without worries of the boat going too fast. Her Pachirisu was perch on her left shoulder, with a bag for her capturer. She took out a map that showed her the way to Unova. "Alright, we have to pass a few small islands before we reach Unova. We need to stop and rest for a bit and restock in supplies as well. How about it?" Kate stated out as she used a pin to make some of the islands that she would dock the boat at.

She had to make 3 stops to stock up on supplies and rest for the day, as it would take her a few days to reach Unova. She looked out the window to see that there was a cruise ship, heading towards Almia. The vast ocean had water-type pokemons swimming across the sea. As she went outside, she leaned over the edge to looked down into the ocean. There were all kinds of pokemons swimming below her as well when a baby pokemon noticed her. It swam upwards, towards her before jumping out of the ocean. Kate quickly caught it in her hands, surprised that it jumped suddenly. Though, she had to admit it, the baby pokemon is just cute. It's a baby Mantine, as she could carry with her hands without problems. "Aren't you a cute little Mantine," she said while patting Mantine's head.

"Well, better send you back into the ocean," with that, Kate placed the Mantine into the ocean water. It just look at her with a smile before swimming back down into the ocean to join its family. Kate giggled at how cute it was as looked out into the vast ocean. Some of the Seagulls were flying high above the sky, moving along with the boat that Kate was on. The sun was shining brilliantly in the open sky. The smell of the ocean made Kate feel light headed as the breeze blew from behind her. Her hair was moving around with the wind, but without messing her hair up since she tied 2 spiky ponytails.

As she went back into the driver seat, she took a look into the GPS. There was still a few hours till they make it to their 1st pit stop. "Let's try to do something to pass the time," she told Pachirisu. Kate grab her screwdriver and began to mess around with a communication gear she had few years ago. She never stop messing with techs as she was always been fascinated in them. While her partner when and took a nap, as it would be a long time before they reach the island.

After a few hours, the boat Kate was in was nearing the island. The sun was beginning to set into the horizon, giving a orange hue in the ocean. She wished she had a camera to remember this beautiful scenery. She wanted to show this to her teammates, Kellyn, Crawford and Barlow. "Maybe another time," she sighed as she slowed the boat to a slow pace, carefully manoeuvring it beside the docking area. Once she felt a slight jerk from hitting the dock, she quickly shuts down the engine before getting off of her seat. She grab some ropes before tossing over to the men, who came to help securing the boat to the docks, preventing it from floating away into the ocean.

Once the boat was secured to the docks, Kate make sure that everything was switch off before getting off the boat. Her Pachirisu was now on top of her head, half asleep since Kate woke her up from its slumber. There were boats, sailors and yachts of all different shapes and sizes, parked at the docks for the people to rest from their long journey. Once she was off of the docks, she went towards the small town.

There were market going on right now, selling berries or fruits for the people that lived on the island. Kate entered the market to restock on supplies for her journey to Unova. She made sure that it was enough for the journey ahead, getting enough for a day or 2. There were lots of stalls that sell all kinds of berries, ranging from Pecha Berry to the rare Liechi Berry. She bought a few of those while buying some ramen and rice cake as well to help with her starving tummy. Once she had bought the other remaining supplies, she went back to her boat to restock it. The sky had began to grow darker, though there was still a little light emitting from the sun that was still shining just above the horizon.

Kate entered the dock, making sure that she had everything she needed. Once everything was there, she starts to stock the boat with supplies. As she got on board, she couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. As she unpacked, she called out to her Pokemon, Pachirisu. "Pachi, time for dinner," but there was no response. There was only silence, apart from the sound of the ocean splashing against the boats and ships parked at the docks. "Pachi? Where are you?" Kate asked out loudly, but there was still no response. She started to get worried, as Pachirisu never left her side, even when she was asleep. She quickly got off the boat and headed straight towards the market, retracing her steps to where she might lost Pachirisu.

Unfortunately, she couldn't find him anymore, even if the market was currently empty. Kate felt heartbroken when her long time partner disappeared as she headed back to the boat to get some sleep before continuing to search for Pachi tomorrow. She wanted to find who was responsible for taking her partner.

Meanwhile, Kate's Pachirisu was in cage with a big red 'R' plastered on its side. "I told you, we can send this to the boss! He might even promote us!" a lady with a curvy down pinkish hair said. She wore a white top with uncovered belly, with the same 'R' on the front of the shirt, a pair of black gloves that stretch to her elbows, a short white skirt and a pair of socks that reach her thighs.

"But you do know that we just captured a Ranger's Pokemon partner, right?" a man with blue coloured hair that reach above his shoulder replied. Just like the female, he wore the same shirt, but longer. His gloves stretch up till halfway up his wrist, a pair of long pants that was tucked into his boots in the end and a rose that was tucked neatly into his pocket.

"But da ya know that we can fetch good money with it?" a talking Pokemon responded. It was a Meowth, but Pachirisu was surprised that it could talk. Just what were they going to do with him, but one thing for sure, Kate will find him.

"I'm sure it will, Meowth," the lady then walked out of the cave that they were hiding in. It was really dark outside right now, since the sun had set.

"Let's get some sleep, Jessie. We have to wake up pretty early tomorrow," the man said before yawning, indicating that he was really tired and needed a good night sleep. Since their back was facing towards Pachirisu, it tried to unlock the cage that he was trapped in. But with the padlock held the door locked, there was no way of escaping without help.

"Fine, James, but I'll blame you if the Pokemon was stolen from us," with that being said, Jessie returned back into the cave as James began to lie down for a good night sleep. Meowth curled up of opposite of James, before snoozing off into a deep sleep. Since only Jessie and Pachirisu were left awake, Jessie went over to the pokemon before looking into it. "I'm sure the boss will find how clumsy the Pokemon Rangers are these days," with that, she walked away from the cage before lying down, drifting off into a sleep. The pokemon later curled up its tail around its body before it too drift off into a sleep.

In the next morning, in the boat, Kate had packed up her spare capturer gear, in case she lost her 1st one. Once she had everything, she locked up the boat before getting off to find her partner. When she exited the docks, she saw that there were people moving from buildings to buildings, getting their business ready. She quickly pass all of the buildings and out into the forest, which her instincts from travelling in forest to kick up. Kate made sure she didn't disturb any Pokemon's territory and avoid any mishap along the way.

There caves and tall trees all over the forest, making it hard to search for Pachirisu. But Kate didn't want to give up as she continued on, taking a few sips from her bottle of water that she brought along. The weather was a bit sunny, but it didn't Kate from continuing as she continued searching.

2 hours had passed since Kate had entered the forest. She had look in every single cave that she could find and every tall trees that she could climb, but Pachirisu was no where to be found. Her bottle was just nearly emptied as she fight through the forest. The wild Pokemons around her were friendly, which was fortunate, since she had to concentrate on getting through the forest. Upon entering a small clearance, she spotted a cave with 2 figures and a Pokemon hiding inside. Kate quickly hid behind a large boulder before peeking out.

She was shocked to see that Team Rocket was on this island, and they were wanted criminals by the cops and Pokemon Rangers. And what's more shocking was that, they had captured her partner. Kate then scanned her surroundings for any help when she saw one that would do the job.

Back inside the cave, Jessie had just finished off cleaning herself of the dust. "Right, all set?" Jessie asked. The other nodded, getting ready to move out as James grab the cage before they start leaving the cave/ "Not so fast Team Rocket!" a shout was heard all of a sudden, which made the trio jumped up in terror.

Kate then hop onto the boulder as she looked down at Team Rocket. "Give back the Pokemon you stole and don't think about resisting!" she exclaimed angrily at them. A few Pokemons later appeared out in the clearing, which all of them were evolved from the 1st evolution.

"Drat, the brat has got us surrounded," Jessie stated, grabbing one of her poke balls.

"What are we going to do?" James asked, clutching onto the cage tightly.

"Fear not as I have a secret weapon!" Meowth said before taking out like what appeared to be a control with a red button on it. He pressed the button before a slight tremor was felt throughout the ground. The small tremor later turned into a big shake as Kate lost her balance before jumping off of the boulder.

The ground started to break up, as an object began to emerge from the ground. Kate tried to regain her balance, but the constant tremor made it difficult. And the trio wasn't even affected by the tremor as they were on top of a platform. The object began to take shape, which Kate was dumbfounded about it. It was a plane like vehicle, but with the design that looks like a Salamence. "Goodbye, little Ranger brat!" Jessie called out before entering the plane.

"Oh no you don't!" Kate exclaimed, trying to prevent the trio from escaping, but she was too late as the plane took off into the sky. The smoke came from the plane made her choke as she tried to clear her lungs from the fumes. As the smoke cleared, all that left was a platform that the trio stood on and the angle it was pointed at. She then realised where it was heading as she looked for a bird Pokemon. It didn't take her any time to find one, as a Flygon was flying above her. "Capture on!" she called out, as she shot out her capturer at the Flygon. She successfully captured it as the Pokemon began to dive towards her before landing. She got onto Flygon before flying off to the docks.

Once she landed at the docks, she thanked Flygon before getting on to the boat. She hurriedly went to the drivers seat, before turning the engine on while making sure the whole system was switched on as well. Once set, Kate back the boat up before accelerating out into the open sea, to catch up with Team Rocket. She knew that the plane needed fuel to fly, and since it looks rather old, she guessed that it won't make it far.

On the 2nd island, Kate was right as the plane had crashed onto the island. The trio had somehow survived the crash as they got off the plane. "I can't believe that you didn't check the fuel gauge before we flew off, Meowth!" Jessie scowled at Meowth while James carried the cage. The cage was untouched during the crash, thus Pachirisu didn't get injured from the impact.

"We better hide somewhere, or that Ranger will come looking for us soon," James stated, which stopped Jessie from strangling Meowth. They nodded before the three of them headed into the forest, leaving the crashed plane behind.

Kate had parked the boat at the docking area on the island. Unlike the 1st island, this wasn't as lively and there were only a few houses build on it. She realised that there was no one was on the island either, which meant looking for Team Rocket a lot easier. Though the eerie silence in the abandoned buildings made her spine shiver. She knew that there would be ghost Pokemons hanging around in this area, which she needs to be careful about moving around the place. She remembered when Crawford and Barlow played a prank on her by scaring her, thus making her 2 spiky ponytails to spike up towards the ceiling, staying like for almost a week. She really hated that.

As she walked passed the empty houses, she noticed that the ground had leaves and vines emerged through the cracks in the tiles and the roots from the trees had stuck onto the side of the houses as well. Kate could tell that this place was abandoned ages ago. Once she was out of the small row of houses, she began to venture into the forest to search for the trio.

Once she was out in an open, she was dumbfounded at what she founded. A huge old mansion stood there, with windows having holes in them and the sound of creaking as the mansion was setting on its foundation. Though what scares her most was the fact that inside was dark, with the sound of creaking floor with every step she took. This was even scarier than any mission she went, and that was when she had her partner with her. Now, she was all alone in the dark, creepy, and eerily silence mansion that had the potential to scare the living lights out of her skin.

As she went deeper into the mansion, she heard something that made her choked on her own breath. There were sounds of footsteps coming from the floor above her, and it was a slow creak. "What did I do to deserve this," she whispered to herself, slumping forward as anime like tears appeared on her cheek. She slowly but bravely, went up the stairs to the 1st floor to check whether was it a Pokemon or something else. She hoped it was just a Pokemon as she flicked her flashlight on to help her to navigate around the old mansion.

The floorboards on the ground looks much more breakable than the lower floor, and make much more sound. Kate carefully took her step as she navigate her way towards the 1st room, shivering from the fear of the dark rooms. When she shine it into the room, she swore she saw something moved. Sweats starts to appear on her face from how scared she was. She then felt something moving behind her as she quickly turned around, shining her flashlight along the way. But nothing was there, and she was even more terrified.

Suddenly, a figure was behind her, laughing a bit. This made Kate stiffen up as she slowly turned her head over her shoulder when a figure with a messed up face was looking down at her. She shrieked so loudly that it made her hair stands up as she was scared witless. Then a laughter came after that, as the face was actually a mask when it was taken off to reveal a Pokemon Ranger. "You have got to see the look on your face!" she exclaimed, as she clutched onto her belly from her laughter.

The Ranger was a blonde, with a ponytail tied behind. One piece of her hair covered one of her eye. She wore a black hat, a pair of fingerless gloves, a pair of long jeans and a crescent moon shape necklace around her neck. By the looks of her uniform, she's from Ring Town from another region.

Kate just stand there, both speechless and shocked about what had just happened before falling over, anime style. "You are such a numbskull!" Kate scowled as she wasn't happy about getting jumpscared by someone in a creepy dark mansion.

"Hey, I can't help it when I see how scared you were when you entered the mansion," the girl told her, folding her arms.

"Ugh, never mind about that. Now, I wanna ask you, what are you doing here?" Kate asked, changing the subject to avoid from any further embarrassment.

"Well, at least straighten down your hair 1st, it is still frozen upwards," the girl giggled about Kate's hair still all stiffen up. Kate quickly tried to recover her hair from her scary torment, yet she couldn't get it back down. She just glared at the Pokemon Ranger for doing this to her as she held down her hair with her left hand.

"Now back to the subject, what are you doing here? And what's your name?" Kate asked, completely upset about her situation.

"Alright, alright. My name is Espeon, but just call me Espy. And why I'm here, I'm just looking for a lost Pokemon that wander onto this island," Espy explained. This had made Kate interested as she raised an eyebrow about her mission.

"What sort of Pokemon?" she asked.

"That is for you to find out and for me to know," Espy said smugly as she grinned at Kate.

"Will you stop being a hard head! I'm looking for my kidnapped partner who was stolen by Team Rocket!" Kate exclaimed, letting her anger get better of her.

"Wait, Team Rocket? I was chasing them as well for stealing some Pokemons back at Johto," Espy told her as she was now in serious mood.

"You were? Then why are you here anyway?"

"I actually followed 3 fellow grunts from Team Rocket into the mansion earlier. And they are still hiding in this mansion since the doorway is still close," Espy explained as she leaned against the wall behind her. It looked like the wall was about to fall over, but it didn't since it still kept in place.

"Let's go and find them then!"

"I know, though since you're here, why don't we split up," Espy suggested, which Kate was not really looking forward to it. After the scare from Espy, she doesn't want to be left alone any longer.

"I'd suggest we don't," Kate replied as she sweatdropped.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?" Espy teased her, as she smirked at her while she slowly walked around her.

"Y-yes..." Kate responded, as she avoid contact, pouting at the fact that she had faced many big problems, from taking down Team Rocket's branches around the region and taking out a powerful organization, yet she was scared to be left alone in the dark.

"Well, I haven't know your name yet," Espy stated as she stopped in front of Kate.

"The name is Kate, a Top Ranger," she stated, looking away from her.

"Oh, a T- wait what?! You're a Top Ranger?!" this had made Espy dumbfounded. She didn't know that girl she was talking to was actually a Top Ranger.

"Yeah," Kate responded to that, as she too was a bit surprised about Espy's response.

"Well, I always hear they are the top of the top. I need to proof that you are," Espy stated, placing her hands on her hips as she got closer to Kate, face to face. This had made Kate all tensed up as she backed up a bit, making a space between them.

"Will this be enough," she said instead of questioning her, showing the capturer on her wrist. That was enough to convince Espy that she was indeed a Top Ranger.

"Alright, I'm convince enough, but we still have to split up," Espy wanted to find the trio as fast as possible.

"Fine," Kate reluctantly agreed to it as she look away. Espy just nodded before she walked off deeper into the mansion in search for the trio. Kate flicked her flashlight on, as she shine her way through the mansion.

Espy continued to look for the grunts, while avoiding any holes on the floor that could lead her falling down the lower floor. Though she had to admit, the mansion was a bit of a creepy side, but nothing could scare her that bad. Her flashlight was in her hand, shining the way, as she looked up and down for the trio when she heard some noise coming from the opposite of the wall. She placed her ear against the wall when she heard some voices.

"Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps," a female voice said.

"Got it Jessie," a male voice spoke, as the sound of footsteps were heading towards the entrance of the mansion. She hurriedly headed back the way she came, hoping to catch them before they reach the doorway.

Meanwhile, Kate was looking up and down for her Pachirisu as well as the trio from Team Rocket. Along the way, she heard some voices and a few footsteps that were closing in. "This is much better from capturing that twerp's Pikachu," a female voice spoke.

"Yeah, and besides, this isn't anyone's Pachirisu, but a Pokemon Ranger's," a male voice was heard as well.

Kate squinted her eyes down the hallway, making out 3 figures walking towards her. She quickly flash her flashlight at them, before revealing that it was the 3 grunts that stole her Pachirisu. This had blind the trio for awhile before regaining their vision. "Hey! Give me back my Pachirisu!" Kate yelled at them.

"Oh no, it's that Ranger! Let's get out of here!" Jessie exclaimed, running back the way they came. Kate went to catch up with them, running down the hallway and avoiding the holes and fallen furniture that was all over the ground.

"Wait, why are we running anyway? We have Pokemons and she doesn't," James stated, which made them stopped. They looked at each other before facepalming about what James stated.

"Duh, we could have taken her out easily!" Jessie stated as they turned around to face the Ranger.

Kate just stopped in her tracks as the trio looked at her with some confidence in their face. Something about those looks doesn't make Kate feel any better, and she saw her Pachirisu within a cage that was held by Meowth. "So, you think you're all strong. Well, take this! Go Seviper!" Jessie exclaimed, tossing out her poke ball as the said Pokemon emerged from its ball.

"You too Weezing! Help Seviper out!" James called out his poke ball as well. The 2 Pokemons were heading towards Kate slowly, which made the whole situation a turn around. She scanned the area for any wild Pokemons, but there was non. "C'mon, where is help when I need one?" Kate grumbled, looking left and right as she backed up slowly.

"Weezing! Use Smoke Screen!" James commanded, which his Pokemon did as it was told. It sprayed a cloud of smoke, blinding Kate as she couldn't see anything thanks to the black fog.

"Seviper! Use Iron Tail!" a voice call out. Kate didn't know where it was coming from, but she prepared herself for the impact. But the impact didn't come, and the reason was because Seviper hit the floor below Kate. This had made the floor even weaker, thus breaking apart. This had Kate by surprise as she felt down the hole before barely hanging onto the edges of the floor with her right hand. She looked down and was dreaded of what was below her. There were jagged edges of floorboards facing upwards, which was from the floorboards that had broken down by Seviper's Iron Tail below her. If she fell, then it would be the end for her and she could never see her Pachirisu and Kellyn ever again.

"Awesome, now let's go!" Jessie said as she returned her Seviper into its Poke ball. The ran passed Kate and back down the hallway, leaving her in the predicament of not falling down onto the jagged edges.

Espy was at the entrance when she saw 3 figures ran down the stairs and towards her. "Halt! You 3 shall be arrested by me! So no funny business," Espy stated, in her fighting stance as she got ready to take out the grunts with her capturer in her hand. Her partners, Umbreon, Absol and Vulpix, stood behind her in case they needed to fight.

"I won't count on it. Your friend is in very deep trouble. And if you don't go and help her, then it will be more than injury you will be expecting," Jessie said in a cold voice. Espy wasn't buying it, but she somehow couldn't get the feeling that she was right. But if she somehow felt for it, then she not only lost the grunts but losing Kate's Pachirisu as well. She took a gamble and just let them pass.

"Shadow, follow them and find out where they are heading," Espy said, which her Umbreon nodded before chasing after the three grunts. Espy then went back into the mansion, the way Team Rocket came from. Her partners were close behind as they hurriedly tried to find Kate.

Kate was still trying to hang onto the edge of the floor. She tried to climb out, but the sound of the creaking didn't sound good, as well as her arms starts to hurt. Her hand was now slipping from the edge, as she fought to grab the edge with her other hand. But there was nothing else for her to grab on as held on for life. "Somebody! Help!" Kate yelled out, but it was too late as her hand had slipped from the board.

Kate felt the feeling of lightness as her world slowly move. She was falling to her death and she regretted not having to save her partner, Pachirisu. She closed her eyes and ready to leave the world when she felt something around her, like the move Physic. Kate flustered her eyes open before realising that it was Espy who came and rescue her. Her Absol quickly move her out of the hole before gently placing her on the floor. "Good job Ax," Espy said, which Ax nodded as she went towards Kate.

"Hey, are you alright?" Espy asked as went down to check on Kate's condition. Kate just simply hugged her, which caught Espy off guard. She then returned the hugged, not knowing what else to do since Kate was still clinging onto her. It took a few minutes before Kate had broke the hug.

"Thank you so much for saving me back there," Kate said, as tears of joy was visible on her face.

"Don't mention it," Espy said as they both got up.

"So, where did those three went? I want a piece of them for doing this to me," Kate said, as she was furious about what had happened. She clenched her hands into a fist, thinking about how to get even with them.

"They had escaped when I came to check on you, and it's a good thing I came too," Espy stated.

Instead of being mad at Espy, Kate instead thanks her for helping her out of a dangerous situation. "Now let's get them!" she yell before they ran down the the hallway and out the mansion, with a newly drive energy in their system. They were back in the forest, heading towards the town when a shriek was heard throughout the island. The Rangers realised what was happening as they quicken their pace.

Once they exited the forest, they saw that Team Rocket was tying the girls arms to one of the rusted light pole. "Hey! Stop that!" Kate called out to them, which caught Team Rocket out of surprise.

"Drat, it's those Rangers again," Jessie exclaimed.

"Let's just get out of here," Meowth stated as they ran down the pathway.

"Shadow! Stop them!" Espy called out, but nothing happened. She tried to contact her partner by looking into her phone that shows the location of her 3 partners. She saw that her Umbreon was moving as well, but the same way the three grunts were running when she realised what had happened. Somehow, her partner was captured as well by the trio. "Did they seriously captured my partner as well?!" Espy exclaimed as she started chasing them while Kate unbind the trainer's arms.

"Thank you, but those jerks stole my Pokemons," the girl said as she rub her wrist from the bind.

"We're on it, don't worry," Kate reassured her as they began running the way Espy went.

Once the trio was at the beach, Meowth took out a control with a few buttons on it. He pressed one of the button before a huge Magikarp appeared out of the ocean and landed on the beach. The mouth opened to reveal that it was a submarine. Espy stopped to see that they had escaped into their Magikarp submarine. "Ugh! There is no way you three are escaping me!" she yelled at them as the submarine began to dive into the ocean.

"Espy! Over here!" Kate called out to her, standing on the dock platform. Espy nodded, heading over to the platform as both Kate and the trainer entered Kate's boat. Espy soon joined them, jumping onto the deck as Kate start up the engine before pulling out of the docks and out into the ocean.

"Where did they go?" Kate asked as Espy took out her device. It showed that they were right in track of the three grunts, heading towards the 3rd island.

"Just straight ahead!" Espy exclaimed.

"Got it," with that, Kate floored the boat to its max speed. Espy noticed that Kate was more than pissed, and to cool things off, she wanted to meet the trainer. She headed over to the girl, who sat on one of the seat in silence, not looking happy at all. She took a seat beside the trainer and tries her best to comfort her, even though she was horrible at it. But she had to try to help the girl out. Espy took note about what the girl was wearing, a green bandanna, a sleeveless dress that reach just above her thighs, a pair of black bike shorts, a pair of gloves with green cutting and a pair of sneakers to travel around. Her brown hair reach just above her shoulder.

"Erm, hey, my name is Espeon, but you can call me Espy. The driver is Kate, a Top Ranger. Don't worry, we will get your Pokemons back, we promise. And can I know your name?" Espy started off, which she had to admit, she went much better than she expected.

The girl looked at her, a little sad, but somehow wasn't crying at all. "Nice to meet you Espy, my name is Daisy, I'm a trainer from the Sinnoh region. I was on my way to visit Unova to grab some stuff for my best friend," Daisy stated.

"So, what were you doing on the island?" Espy asked, trying to find out whether did Team Rocket shot her down or did she came to the island by accident.

"My friend had lend me his Empoleon to travel to Unova region. We stop at the island for some rest, since we had been travelling for quite some time. While we were walking around the island, those 3 jerks stole mine as well as my friend's Pokemon," Daisy explained, clenching her fist as she looked down, looking at the floor as her hair covered her eyes.

"Like I said, we will get them back," Espy reassured as Daisy look back at her.

"Alright," she replied, her voice a little rusty from crying a little. Espy can't blame her, from what she's been through. Even though it was just it wasn't a long time ago, she could tell that Daisy cared about her Pokemons.

"Espy, the 3rd island is in our sight! Get ready to use the sonic sound to find the submarine," Kate called out as the island was visible. Espy nodded as she went towards a big screen, opposite of the seat she and Daisy were sitting.

Espy went over the controls, and remembered what does the buttons and switches worded. She read the user manual back at her Ranger school about the functions of the controls. She switch the device on, before the screen lit up to show what was under the boat. And right on the screen, the Magikarp submarine was there, moving across the ocean. "Kate, they are right below us," Espy called out.

"Good, use the EMP to fry their circuitry on my signal," Kate stated, keeping an eye on the distance between the boat and the island.

Inside the submarine, the trio were cycling their way through the ocean, celebrating their win. "I can't wait to be promoted!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Yeah, and not to mention gifts for da boss!" Meowth said, from behind James.

"And nothing else could go wrong from here!" James stated as they laughed about their soon to be victory.

"Now!" Kate exclaimed, which Espy nodded before hitting the 'Fire' button, which sent out an EMP shot at the submarine.

The submarine's circuitry was later fried up as the monitor and the lighting system went haywire. This made the trio confused and scared the same time. "What is happening, Meowth?" Jessie asked, as she kept paddling the rotary.

"I don't know, but we need to resurface soon," Meowth stated as there was a small explosion coming from his left side of his seat.

"There's a land nearby, let's head there," James suggested, which they pedal towards the island.

"Kate, we got them, they are heading towards the island," Espy informed her.

"Good, now let's get our Pokemons back and arrest these jerks," Kate stated as she floored the boat.

Meanwhile, on the island, Jessie, James and Meowth had barely landed on the island as the submarine they were in exploded. But the stolen Pokemons were still in their hands, and were now thinking of a way back to their base.

"Hold it right there, and don't think about running this time!" Espy called out, she, along with Kate, Daisy and her Pokemons surrounded the trio. "Now hand over the stolen Pokemons and come in silently," Kate warned them, as she got ready her capturer.

The island was filled with wild pokemons, which they had the advantage. Kate and Espy could call in any type of Pokemons, depending on what type both Jessie and James called out. "We won't hand over these Pokemons, so prepare to get taken out by us! Go Seviper!" Jessie exclaimed as she tossed out her Pokemon.

"You too, Weezing!" James tossed out his, as his Pokemon emerged from its poke ball.

Kate made note that Seviper is a Poison type, and it's weak against Ground and Physic type. She already spotted the right Pokemon type as she aim her capturer into the sky. "Capture on!" she called out, firing her capturer into the sky, and thanks to her adjustment on her gear, she had managed to get the Flygon flying high above.

It then flew down towards her, before landing beside Kate, ready to fight. "Seviper, use Poison Fang!" Jessie commanded, which her Pokemon attacked.

"Flygon, use DragonBreath to take out it out, and use Rock Tomb to take out the Seciper," Kate instructed, doing as it was told, taking out Seviper's attack before slamming into the ground, as rocks starts falling onto the snake Pokemon. It was a one-hit knock out, as its eyes had swirls in them. jessie cursed under her breath as she recalled her fainted Pokemon.

"Weezing, it's all up to you, use Smog!" James commanded as his Weezing starts spraying our a purple fog from its mouth.

"Flygon, use Whirlwind to blow the smog away!" Kate instructed.

"Ax, use Confusion on it after Flygon has taken out the smog," Espy called out.

Once the Smog was cleared, Espy's Absol used Comfusion to take out the Weezing by slamming it into the ground a few times, knocking it out. James had to recall his Pokemon as well, since they were out match and Meowth was somehow got hit by Confusion as well, as he had swirly in his eyes.

"And Flygon, Dragon Claw on them!" with that, Flygon used its claw before swiping at the trio before an explosion erupted. This made the three flew high into the sky, leaving the stolen Pokemon back on land.

"Great, we gone to all that trouble and we still didn't get anything," Jessie stated, completely miserable.

"Not to mention, our boss won't be happy about this," James added.

"We're blasting off again!" with that, they disappeared into the sky.

Back on the island, the smoke had cleared off and their Pokemons had been freed. Kate had thanked Flygon as it flew away before she went over to her caged Pachirisu. She used a small pin to unlock the padlock, which she succeeded as Pachirisu quickly jumped out of the cage and onto Kate's shoulder. "It's good to have you back too, Pachi," Kate smiled at her Pokemon, happy that she got her partner back.

"Thank you so much for helping me out!" Daisy exclaimed, as the Pokemons was returned to her, as well as her friend's Pokemon.

"Though, those three had escaped. I will catch up to them," Espy stated as she pat her Umbreon's head.

"Well then, do you need a lift?" Kate asked, pointing at the boat.

"Nah, it's alright, I can use Umbreon's Teleport to teleport me to Sinnoh to continue searching for them. Anyway, thanks for helping me save Shadow. Maybe we'll meet again." with that, Espy and her Pokemons disappeared in flash of dark purple light.

Kate looked over at Daisy, who was looking out into the ocean. "Hey, want a ride to Unova? I'm heading there," Kate suggested.

"Sure, there's where I'm going," Daisy agreed.

Kate laughed about it as she and Daisy walked to the boat, getting ready to depart for Unova region. She can't believe that it took her faster than expected to reach Unova, since the sun was starting to set. Not to mention that she made 2 new friends along the way. She wondered would she even meet any more people? One way to find out...

* * *

><p><strong>DB : UGH! I HAVE FINALLY FINISH THIS FREAKING CHAPTER!<strong>

**May : No one told you to go overboard with it...**

**DB : Hey, I'm trying out to put out a detailed chapter, and it worked out great till the final quarter of the story.**

**Kate : Well, at least you tried.**

**DB : Yeah, though it might sound a bit rush in the end.**

**Brendan : R & R please!**


	4. The Time of Chances

**DB : Finally, after some time of not updating, I have finally able to update it! Also, I will explain the timeline of this story which I'm doing, at the end of this chapter.**

**May: Took you long enough, and finally, some explanation.**

**Kate : So, what is this chapter going to be about?**

**DB : Oh you'll see.**

**Brendan : DB does NOT own Pokemon, Pokemon Rangers, and so on so forth.**

**DB : Now let the chapter, Begin!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4 : The Time of Chances<p>

The city of Castelia, the centre of economical and trading of the region. But during the night time, it would become the centre of entertainment as people rush from places to places to have fun. From clubs to gaming centres, the streets was always crowded with people. There was even a dancing act, beside a fountain, entertaining the people as they dance to the beat of the music. The crowd were clapping and having fun, watching the dancers dance to the beat.

At the port, a certain speedboat with a Ranger's emblem on its side, was docking. It was non other than Kate herself, with her partner Pachirisu and a trainer who she gave a lift, who goes by Daisy. "Thanks for the lift, Kate. It was so kind of you to take me here," Daisy thanked her.

"No problem, it's what we Rangers do," Kate replied as she scratch the back of her head, laughing it off. Her Pachirisu was perched on top of her head, tired from today's event. It was happy that she was safe and sound, and back with her Ranger partner again.

"I still think your Pachirisu is very cute," Daisy commented, patting Pachirisu's head.

"Well, I named her Pachi, since it is shorter and easier to call her," Kate stated as she took Pachi off her head and cuddle her like a cute little Skitty. This didn't bother her as it kept on taking a nap while Daisy just giggled about how adorable it looks.

"I'm sure she's happy to have you as a partner," Daisy commented, smiling at Kate as agreed. Kate remembered when she first got Pachirisu, after the day of her graduation. Pachi was waiting for her at the beach back in the Almia region, after that incident when Kate calmed her down. It was the best day of her life when she and Pachi meet each other again.

"Well, I have to head off now. Thanks again for the ride," with that, Daisy left while waving back to Kate. She waved back as Daisy disappeared into the crowd of people. She look over at the boat and notice that it was still in one piece and not a single scratch, which was a surprise consider she almost always dent the boat and Barlow or Crawford had to mend it.

She was about to leave the docks when she remembered something. She went back onto the boat before grabbing a small stick, that was just 6 inches long and had a button on its side. "Almost forgot this. I hope the training with Kellyn helps out," Kate stated as she stick the object onto her belt. She then grab her bag and began packing some food and drink, not knowing how long would it take for her to complete the mission.

Once she's sure everything was set, she grab the bag before walking off the boat, but not without locking it. She then sling the bag over her shoulder as she walked into the city, leaving the docks. "Hmm, I need to head over to Prof. Juniper, which is located in Nuvema Town," Kate whispered as headed towards the Pokemon Center to get a map of the region.

She admitted that she had never been to Unova before, so she wouldn't know her way around the region. When she entered, a man almost crashed into her as she almost dropped Pachirisu in her arms. "Oh, I'm so sorry miss. I didn't see you there," the man said, as she scratch the back of her head from almost causing an incident.

"It's alright, sir," Kate reassured him as she just waved it away like it was no big deal.

The man then realised who Kate was, from the styler on her right wrist and the uniform she wore. "Hey, aren't you a Top Ranger?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I am, why?" Kate asked, blinking out of confusion as to what the man was going on about. She wondered did Unova had ever seen a Pokemon Ranger before. And the answer to that question would be given soon enough.

"Well, we don't get a lot of Rangers visiting Unova before, let alone, a Top Ranger. Oh, how rude of me, my name is Burgh. I'm a Gym Leader of this city," Burgh stated, taking out his hand for Kate to shake, which she did.

"Really? That's surprising. My name's Kate, and this is my Pokemon partner, Pachi," Kate introduced as her Pachirisu began to yawn after waking up from the conversation between her and Burgh. She then climbed over Kate's shoulder before perching itself on her head. her tail was wrapped around Kate's neck as a makeshift scarf.

"Nice to meet you Ranger Kate. So, what brings you to Castelia City, the lively city of Unova?" Burgh asked as he bowed to Kate, being a gentleman.

"I was hoping that I could get over to Nuvema Town as soon as possible, but I need a map to do so," Kate explained.

"I can help you with that since I can give you this map," Burgh then took out a piece of device that looks like a phone, but it was in fact a digital map. It was so convenient that even Trainers used it to help them through the region.

"Thank you so much!" Kate smiled at Burgh, as a way of thanking for the device. "I better head off now, bye" with that, she left the center to head over to Nuvema Town. It was a lot easier to find her way there with it being a device instead on a piece of paper. She could imagine asking for direction and getting puzzled of where to head off. She then looked up into the sky to look for a flying type Pokemon to help her travel, which she found a flock of Pelliper flying overhead.

She aimed her styler at the flock before she called out, "Capture On!". If the people weren't busy walking back and forth, they would find it amazing that Kate fired the Capture Disc at the height the flock was flying. It flew way up high, as tall as one of the skyscrapers around the city. Kate moved the disc to make sure she completed the circle when a flash of light appeared. It signalled that the capture was successful as the disc flew back onto its dock.

"Capture complete," she minded as the Pelliper flew down towards her. It landed right in front of her as she patted its head.

"Can you take me to Nuvema Town?" she asked, to which the flying type nodded. She then hopped onto its back before flying off into the sky and towards the town. Her Pachirisu was hanging onto her shoulder as they were in a hurry to the location they're heading.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in Nuvema town, both Brendan and May stayed at Prof. Juniper's house as it was late at night. Most of the folks at the town was already asleep, though the professor was having a conversation with another professor from another region. Brendan look over at May, who was playing with Oshawott. Brendan could feel his face heating from just looking at her and listening to her cute giggles. <em>'Wait, why does my face feel so hot when I barely knew her. Sure, she does cu-. Wait! Why am I thinking that! It's not that I knew her or anything!<em>' Brendan's thoughts was now playing on him, giving him mix emotions. He can't deny for the fact that May looks so cute.

"Brendan, May, you two better get ready for bed if you want to wake up really early tomorrow," Prof Juniper told them, as she faced away from the monitor. They 2 teenagers nodded before they got up and went to wash up.

Brendan, being the gentleman, let May into the bathroom first. When she closed the door, he couldn't help but gave it some thoughts that she somehow looked so familiar. Then he felt his face heating up again, something which he couldn't figured out. He shook his mind and tried to think of something else. _'I can't till morning to battle the Gym Leaders. I wonder what Pokemon would they, what attacks and who am I gonna meet.'_ those thoughts kept him occupied from thinking about May too much.

However, as May exited the bathroom, his thoughts began to wander back to something which he wanted to stop._ 'Battling them with May would be fun too, listening to her... wait, why the heck am I thinking about it again?!'_ Brendan later came back to reality as he noticed that May was looking at him in concern.

"Are you alright, Brendan? Your face looks pretty red," May asked, placing her hand on his forehead. This made Brendan blushed even redder at the feeling of May's hand on his head.

"I-it's nothing," Brendan quickly entered the bathroom to avoid blushing even redder. May just blinked in confusion as Brendan quickly closed the door. She sighed, not knowing what was going on with the boy's mind.

In the bathroom, Brendan stood over the sink and began to ponder out loud about what had happened earlier. "I can't be serious. I barely knew her, and yet, I'm blushing madly. What's the matter with me?" Brendan asked himself as he noticed his face was still a little red from looking at his own reflection in the mirror. He just sighed as he turn the tap on so to let the water run. He cupped both of his hands over the water before splashing it against his face, to cool him down and try to think about tomorrow. He did it a few more times before turning the tap back off. He looked back in the mirror and asked himself.

"I have to think about the Gym battle tomorrow, not about May. Arceus, why does that sound so weird," Brendan cursed as he used a towel to wipe his face of water. He then left the bathroom to head over to the couch to get ready for bed when the sound of door knocking came. This caught not only his, but Prof. Juniper and May's attention, wondering who could it be at this time of hour.

As Brendan opened the door, he was greeted by a teenage girl who had two spiky ponytail and a Rangers uniform, and a Pachirisu was perched on her shoulder. "Um, hi?" it was more a question than a greeting, not knowing who she was or what she was doing here.

"Hi, is the professor around?" she asked, causing Brendan to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm here," called the professor, which Brendan moved a little as to let Prof. Juniper at the door.

"Sorry to bother you, professor, but I may need to have a word with you. Oh, and my name is Kate, a Top Ranger," at the pronunciation of Ranger, the professor instantly raised her eyebrows before moving out of the way. This too caught the attention of both Brendan and May, as they never thought about meeting a Ranger in professor's house.

"Come in," the professor stated as Kate entered the house, before she closed the door. "What brings you here, Ranger?" she asked as the two of them took a seat, opposite of each other. Kate sat next to May while Brendan stood beside the couch as to listen to what Kate was about to tell them.

"I came here to prevent an evil organisation from taking over this region's Pokemon, like they did over at my home region. They are called Team Dim Sun, and they use a dark energy to control the minds of the Pokemon. But me and my partner manage to stop their evil schemes, till recently," Kate continued to explain while her Pachirisu jumped from her shoulder and onto the couch, before curling up to get some sleep. "It seems they have started their operation in this region for unknown reasons. I was sent here to stop them as soon as possible before they begin controlling the Pokemons again. And I came here for your help on this situation, Prof. Juniper. I need you to try to patch a call to my base back in Almia, and possibly, convert your home, or office, into a Ranger's base of operation. Will that be alright?" after explaining about the newest threat to the professor, Prof. Juniper just looked at her as the information began to sink in.

She had a lot of things in her mind right, not only was there a new threat to Unova after Team Plasma had disbanded, Kate needed to convert her home into a base of operation for Rangers. "I... I'll have to think about, Ranger. This is too much to take," she said, getting off of the chair before heading off to the kitchen to grab a cup of water.

"Take all the time you need, miss," Kate told her as the professor disappeared into the kitchen, thus leaving her with both Brendan and May. May was examining Kate's uniform and her styler out of amazement. This caught Kate's attention as she raised an eyebrow of the way May was scanning through her styler.

"Erm, hey there, I'm Kate," she said, which snapped May out from looking at her styler.

"Oh, hi," May said as she laughed nervously from her embarrassment earlier. "My name's May, nice to meet you," she said with a decent smile, which Kate just sighed.

"From the looks, you have not met a Top Ranger, have you?" Kate asked, crossing her arms in the process.  
>"Well, no. But I did meet a Ranger before, back at Hoenn," as they conversation between the 2 girls went on, Brendan couldn't help keep gazing at May. Her giggles and smile was the cutest thing he had ever seen. It was like it entranced him at the cuteness of May's personality and looks. He quickly snapped out of his daze by Snivy who was pulling onto his pants.<p>

He kneel down to find out why he was pulling onto his pants. "What's the matter, little guy?" Brendan asked. The Snivy later taken out a flower from behind his back before handing it to him. It didn't take long for Brendan's mind to click as his face began to burn up. His eyes began to twitch as he snatch the flower from Snivy before he took out his upgraded Pokedex to understand Snyvi's personality.

When he found it, he was dumbfounded about it. He looked at the Snivy with an annoyed look before muttering about something. "Of all the Snivy, and it has to be a romantic and prankster type," he wasn't too happy about this, not at all considering the fact that he always kept blushing around May.

Fortunately, for him, he was hiding behind a couch so the girls wouldn't see him blushing madly. Though it wasn't helping with how Snivy is teasing him about it. "Will you just leave me alone," Brendan gave a death glare at the Pokemon, which it just shrug as he was recalled back into its poke ball.

"How did this happen to me?" Brendan sighed as he leaned against he back of the couch.

"Happen to you?" a voice caught his attention. When he looks up, he was surprised to see that it was May, looking down at him with a puzzled face. This made Brendan flustered madly as he look away from her.

"N-nothing," Brendan stuttered, trying to avoid looking at May.

"Hey, May, who are you talking to?" Kate's voice was heard from the other side of the couch.

"Gimme a moment, Kate," May replied as she looked over to her. Then she turn her attention to Brendan, who was still avoiding her gaze.

"Brendan, could you come over here. Kate wants to meet you," she said in her sweet voice. This somehow made Brendan's mind a little occupied about chatting with a Ranger, but the sweet voice from May made it hard. The only way for him to regain his senses was to actually try talking to Kate and keep his mind occupied.  
>"Sure," with that, he got up before jumping over the couch. May moved out of the way as he landed softly onto the couch with a soft puff. May then took a seat beside Kate, to which Brendan was relief for. "The name's Brendan Birch, nice to meet ya," he introduced himself.<p>

"You two. So, I heard that you two are battling the gym leaders here, am I right?" Kate asked as she got comfortable on the couch. May told her about it while Brendan was hiding behind the couch to avoid being seen blushing.

"Yeah, we are. Wanna tag along?" Brendan asked. It's not only a way to get his mind occupied, but to actually see a Ranger in action too, especially Top Ranger. He always heard stories about them from other regions, from Johto to Sinnoh. He even been to Almia once, to chase down a certain rare Pokemon during that time, so he didn't get a chance to know about the stories of the region.

Kate pondered about how to answer this, she she sighed before giving her answer. "Sure, as long as those Team Dim Sun creeps doesn't post any threats. Beside, I might have fun watching some Pokemon battle," Kate said, which Brendan grinned in satisfaction.

"I guess it's time for bed," Brendan stood up before giving out a sleepy yawn, signalling that he was indeed tired and wanted to sleep right now.

"Yeah, I'm sleepy too," May yawned while getting up from the couch. Kate carried Pachi into her arms before getting off to let Brendan sleep on the couch. May went to the guest room, which was shown by Prof. Juniper earlier. It only had one bed in the room, thus the reason as to why Brendan slept on the couch.

"So, Kate, where are you gonna sleep?" May asked, noticing that the couch was already occupied by Brendan and the guest room was already taken by her. She had to admit though, she felt kinda bad for not sharing the bed with Brendan nor Kate, but the bed can only hold one person.

"I can sleep on the chair back in the living room," Kate pointed to the armchair located opposite of the couch where Brendan was already fast asleep.

"Well, good night then," with that, May went into the guest room before closing the door. Kate then yawn from today's adventure, feeling really exhausted. Her Pachirisu was still fast asleep in her arms, curled up into a ball. Kate just giggled at how cute the sight was when she noticed the professor was coming back out from the kitchen. This reminded her about the earlier discussion to which she quickly walked up to the professor.

"So, professor, will you allow it?" she asked, getting straight to the point and not wasting any time.

"I gave it some thoughts. It was hard for me to decide whether should I allow my lab, and home, to be used as a base for operation. But if you guys wanted to prevent an evil organisation from taking over the region, then feel free to do whatever you want," after Prof. Juniper told Kate about her answer, she was really happy about it. Not only did the professor agree to let them use her house as a base of operation, but she didn't have to set up a tent either.

"Thank you so much, professor," Kate smiled, which the professor returned with a smile of hers.

"Now, isn't it time for bed?" she asked, which Kate laughed nervously.

"Alright, night professor," with that, Kate went over to the armchair, but not after laying Pachi onto the coffee table to let her sleep in peace. Kate grab a pillow before taking a seat on the chair, to which she relaxes her eyes and slowly drift off to sleep.

* * *

><p>As the morning comes, the town began to wake up. The people began to exit their homes and began to do some early shopping for some breakfast, while others were chatting to their neighbours about yesterday. Soon, the town was lively again as the sun slowly rises from the horizon.<p>

In the professor's house, Brendan began to wake up from his slumber as he sit up on the couch, stretching his arms. Kate was already awake and was making some breakfast for them to get ready for the adventure ahead. How she learn to cook was interesting, Kate might added. Back at her home, she had to cook for the other Rangers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If she doesn't, she and her teammates, or friends as she calls them, will have a massive stomach ache from a certain Ranger's cooking, who goes by Luana.

Brendan could smell some bacons and eggs coming from the kitchen, to which made his stomach grumble in hunger. He was practically drooling from the aroma of how delicious it smells too. On his way there, he almost bumped into May, who just came out from the guest room. "Oh, morning Brendan," May said as she noticed him.

"Morning to you too," Brendan said. He then realised as to how close he was to May, like a few metres away. If May had paid attention to Brendan than what was cooking in the kitchen, she would had noticed Brendan was blushing madly.

"Morning you two. And before you guys get in here for breakfast, go and wash up first if you want any," Kate called out, to which made both Brendan and May blushed out of embarrassment for the fact that Kate knew that they were awake even without looking. Or maybe it was because they were pretty loud and Kate could hear them.

"Erm, alright," with that, both of them went up the stairs before May went into the restroom first while Brendan waited outside for his turn. This time, he wasn't thinking about May, but about what Kate told them last night. 'Team Dim Sun, a new threat is rising. And to think I will just have to beat the Gym Leaders only. This is just great," Brendan thought sarcastically, not looking forward to fighting off an evil organisation as he was only interested to fight the Gym Leaders of the region. He guess he had no choice but to join Kate into stopping them then.

Time went by as Brendan and May had their breakfast, which was prepared by Kate. They had to admit, it was delicious. Kate was about to finish his meal when the professor entered the kitchen. The three teenagers were shocked to see the professor in a horrible shape after waking up from her sleep.

Her hair looks really messed up, as strands of hair were everywhere, her face mask was put on like some child doing hand paint on her and her eyes looks so droopy. Brendan tried hard not to laugh, May felt sorry for how the professor look and Kate felt like she lost her appetite after looking at that. "Erm, morning, professor," May started.

"Morning," she said, walking over to the coffee maker to brew some hot coffee for herself to start the day off. Kate got up before taking her meal, but not without finishing her meal even if she lost her appetite. Brendan later left the kitchen to get ready for the day, as well as May, though it was obvious that Brendan left because he can't hold his laughter anymore.

"Brendan! Don't you laugh about it," May scolded him, nudging him in the ribs to stop him from laughing.

"Alright, alright, but it was hilarious," Brendan laughed, which caused May to hit him with a pillow over and over again, as to stop him from laughing.

After the 'fight' between Brendan and May, they began packing up their belongings and prepare for their adventure ahead. Kate made a call back at the base of operation in Almia to tell her teammates that she had set up a base in Unova, and they could start to operate from the professor's house. Right as she ended the call, she checked her styler whether it was in top shape and her belongings in her bag. Everything was alright, apart from her Pokemon who seem to be missing since breakfast when she remembered.

"Pachi, you can wake up now," she called out, which her Pachirisu emerged from the guest room. She then ran up to Kate before jumping into her arms.

"Alright then, I think it's time for us to leave. Bye professor and thanks for letting us stay for the night," Brendan called out as he stood by the doorway.

"Your welcome, and try to be caution out there," with that, the three teenagers left the house.

They quickly left the Nuvema to head over to the next town, as Brendan hopes of beating the Gym Leader to gain his first badge of the region and Kate will accompany them while trying her best to stop Team Dim Sun before Kellyn gets there. Barlow told her that Kellyn was called to help her with stopping the organisation again, like they did in the past. However, May was having doubts about defeating her first Gym Battle, since she never had a Pokemon battle before. She was always coordinating her Pokemons in contest and it has different kind of rules from Battling. She hope that Brendan could help her out and train her. Only one way to find out, by beating the first gym leader.

* * *

><p><strong>DB : Okay, this went a little too well, or maybe not.<strong>

**May : Well, background stories weren't meant to be long.**

**Brendan : I have to agree with that. And stop writing about me blushing madly, it is annoying.**

**DB : R and R please.**


	5. The Return of the Darkness

**DB : And welcome back to another chapter of this Story/Fanfic. Sorry it took me so long to update my Fanfic, as I was busy, having issues with Internet, and was celebrating Chinese New Year.**

**May : So that explains the delay. And what's with the "/"? Can't you just choose one?**

**Brendan : May, just drop it.**

**DB : Now, in this chapter, we will have some action for once as well.**

**May : He literally ignored my question!**

**DB : Now onto the Disclaimer. Kate, will you do the honours.**

**Kate : Sure, DB does not own Pokemon, nor Pokemon Rangers, during the making of this story/fanfic.**

**May : Even she does it!**

**Brendan : Let's get on with the chapter...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5 : The Return of the Darkness<p>

The journey to the city with a Gym was rather simple, for both Brendan and May. Not only did May got to train her Oshawott while battling some of the trainers on the route, Brendan gets to teach May about the battle as well, helping her learn the basics of Pokemon Battle. Kate too was enjoying the battle between Trainers as there were a lot of actions during a battle, and not having to worry about controlled Pokemons and the evil organisation. Watching Brendan showing May how to battle was quite entertaining as well, but in a cute way too. She could tell that these two teenagers would become more than just friends.

"Hey, look!" May called out, caughting both Brendan and Kate's attention. Upon the end of the route, they have finally reached their destination, the small town of Accumula. May remembered that she met both the professor and Bianca at this town. The town was just a simple town, with houses built beside the walkway, a Pokemon Centre and a PokeMart nearby, and a big park located on their left, but there was no Gym in the town at all. This made May a little sad, as she was looking forward to facing her first Gym Battle.

Brendan didn't feel all too upset about it, learning that the Gym was in the next city. But getting to it was a problem, as it took them all morning to get to the town, so they were feeling rather hungry from their journey. "So, who's up for lunch?" Brendan asked, which caught May's attention.

If anything that could take May's off of things, then it would be food. She always love eating, especially ramen since it was her favourite dish of them all. She would just gobble them up without any second thoughts, eating more than a dozen bowls. "I'm in!" May exclaimed, can't wait for their lunch to set up. Kate just enjoyed the sight between two great friends.

"Don't they look cute?" Kate asked her partner in a low voice. She doesn't want the two teenagers hear what she was saying. Pachi nodded in agreement, seeing both Brendan and May were heading towards the park.

Once they had settled down under a tree, Brendan began taking out some plates of food from his bag. May saw that it consist of rice balls, some cream puffs, and a couple of ramen in a cup, all kept inside a plastic bag neatly. "Kate, would you mind getting some water from the Pokemon Centre?" Brendan asked, handing her a small kettle.

"Sure," with that, Kate took the kettle before heading down towards the centre.

He prepared a small electric stove before plugging it to a solar panel, which was placed under the sun for power. "So, I heard you love eating ramen," Brendan asked, which caught May by surprise. How did he knew that she loved ramen when she didn't even said anything. Maybe he knew her more than she thinks, as she nods with her face in bright red.

_"She looks cute blushing like that,"_ Brendan thought, before shaking it off knowing that his mind had came back to haunt him. Though that was just overdoing it, even if his mind was teasing him as well. _"This is getting ridiculous, there is no way I like her, since I barely know her!"_ he screamed in his mind, trying to get it off of his shoulder.

"What's the matter, Brendan?" May asked, noticing Brendan's expression changed into a blush. Something was definitely up in his mind, and she was going to find out as she held his hand. This made Brendan all tense up, as the feeling of May's hand on his brought him back to reality.

"I-It's n-nothing," he stuttered, looking away from May to avoid eye contact. This made Brendan's heart skip a beat, as he could feel May's presence nearer.

"Well, you aren't looking at me and you are stuttering, so something is definitely wrong," May was trying to get Brendan to talk. She wanted to know what he was thinking, knowing that she was getting closer to his face when the sound of footsteps came.

"Hey guys!" Kate called out. This made Brendan turn his head around, almost kissing May in progress. Even though they didn't kiss at all, this made both Brendan and May blush madly. Not only were they close to kissing each other, Kate saw them in their position as well.

"H-hey Kate," Brendan said, a little relief that Kate had return with the kettle.

"Here's the kettle," she gave Brendan the kettle, which was filled with water. He noticed that Kate didn't ask anything about what he and May were doing. Like she didn't know anything about it and ignore what they were doing while she was getting the kettle filled up. This made Brendan feel a little more comfortable, since he doesn't want to explain what they were up to.

"Thanks," he thanked her while placing the kettle on the stove he prepared, as that thanks wasn't only for the filled up kettle. He raised the temperature of the stove to get the water boiling. While waiting for the water to boil, he took out his Snivy's Poke ball, before calling it out.

"Sni?" it asked, wondering why it was called out when there wasn't a battle. Though it was quickly pushed aside when Brendan began giving him some Pokepuff. He enjoyed eating them, rubbing his belly in satisfaction.

"You're such a glutton," Brendan laughed as he gave another puff to his Snivy, who quickly ate it all without any second thoughts. The Snivy just ran around him to show that he was really satisfied with his meal, and wanted to play with him now. Brendan understood this and took out a bouncy ball before tossing it off, for Snivy to chase after it. After a few moments, Snivy came back with the ball in hand, and began to nudge May on her arm.

"Hey, May, I think he wants you to toss the ball," Brendan told her, to which she took the ball and patted Snivy's head.

"Alright, I'll play with you," with that, she tossed the ball in the opposite direction. Snivy then ran towards the direction May threw the ball at. It didn't take long when he came back to nudge onto May's wrist again, only for her to toss the ball again.

Kate was leaning against the trunk of the tree, enjoying the view of how the Snivy was really playful, and sometimes a glutton when it comes to food. She took out a small metal cylinder, before twirling it in her hands. She remembered her training with Kellyn about combat with weapons that aren't dangerous, like her bare hands or a rod. They proved useful when there weren't any Pokemon nearby to capture nor when their Partners were really tired. Though since Almia was one again at peace, and only minor task was at hand, she only got to use her metal rod once, but that was when a thief stole someone's purse.

At least she was able to use it once, though it was a few months ago before she was able to get assign to out of region's missions. This made it much more fun and interesting, as Kellyn was already assign to other region's missions after becoming a Top Ranger. She was a bit jealous about how he could get assign to missions at Johto, Kanto and even Sinnoh. She even heard that he bumped into Jackie once, after the Temple incident, with the fall of The Phantom. Kellyn took the pirate, and his lackey, with him on a Wailord to the Union since he was on his way Sinnoh anyway. They were locked up in a cell that was ready for their arrival, since Jackie told his Operator about them.

Kate remembers their small conversation right before Kellyn left for Sinnoh. After that conversation, Kate had began to grow some feelings for Kellyn even more than before, something that which she doesn't know for herself as well. She wondered what it was, and ponders on what could it be. Kellyn was a sweet, kind and helpful kind of guy, and never turns down a mission to help those in need. Though she wished she could go with him to those kind of missions, so that she could spend her time with him. She realised that it could be love, the nagging feeling in her heart. _"What am I thinking? He is just a friend, my best friend for crying out loud!"_ Kate snapped at herself. She doesn't want to think too much about it as she tries to find something else to keep her mind off.

She remembered about what had happened earlier between Brendan and May when she came back. She doesn't want to embarrass those two teenagers, so she didn't question either of them. Though she had to admit, they make a cute couple. If Rhythmi was here, she would somehow try anything to get these two together. Kate just chuckled at that thought, knowing full well that it will make both Brendan and May's face completely red.

"Alright, time to pack up!" Brendan called out, which brought Kate back to reality. Brendan had filled up the remaining boiled water into Thermos to keep it warm if needed, while May was finishing up her 8th bowl of ramen... wait, 8th?! Kate wondered how did May could eat so much and never gain weight. Maybe it had to do with her metabolism, but she didn't want to question about it and began to help the teenagers out. It didn't take long as Brendan's bag was filled up and his Snivy was recalled.

Once they were out of the park, they were about to continue their journey to the next city when Kate caught something just her corner of her eye. There were 2 dark figures running into a small opening of the forest and towards the hills. This made Kate suspicious knowing full well that the figures could be Team Dim Sun grunts.

"You guys go on ahead, I have to get back to Prof. Juniper to grab something I left. Will meet you guys at the gym," this made the 2 teenagers a little surprise.

"Well, alright. Just hurry back," with that, they parted ways, with both Brendan and May heading towards the next city while Kate was heading towards where the 2 figures disappeared to. She made sure that the teenagers were out of sight before beginning to follow the 2 strange figures into the forest through the small opening. As she walks deeper, she made sure she leave a trail back to the opening to avoid getting lost in the forest.

In no sooner when she heard some voices a few feet from where she stopped. As quietly as possible, Kate hurriedly hid behind a tree before taking a peek over at the side of the trunk. Between the bushes and trees, she could make out 2 grunts of Team Dim Sun. Though there was something off about the uniform they wore, something different about it from the last time she saw them back at Almia. Whatever it was, they were still grunts of the evil organisation, and she will have to take them down. The small area made it difficult to use her metal rod as she needed the space, so that was out of the question. Instead, she scanned the area for any Pokemon that could aid her in this situation, and there were a few Normal types around.

"Guess it will do. Capture On," she said softly, hoping to take them out with a surprise attack. She began to direct the disc around a Glameow, encircling it. A light was flashed before the disc flew back towards Kate. "Capture complete," the Pokemon then approached her.

"I need you to use Tackle on one of them," Kate instructed, which the Glameow nodded before going off to tackle one of the grunt. Kate's partner, Pachirisu, was already waiting on branch over the grunts. The timing must be perfect as Kate wanted to avoid combat with them in the forest. Right as Glameow began to attack the grunt on the left with Tackle, Pachirisu released a Thunderbolt on the other remaining grunt. This cause one of the grunt to be knock out cold, while the other to be paralyse.

Once Kate was sure it was safe to come out, she emerged from behind the tree and approach the grunt. "Thanks Glameow for the help," with that, the said Pokemon ran back into the wild. When she was beside him, she kneel down on one of her leg as she began to question him while her Pachirisu climbed onto her shoulder.

"Alright now, talk mister. I want to know why Team Dim Sun is doing in Unova," it was more of a demand than a question, but she wanted the answers now. The grunt just stayed silent, which made Kate a little surprise since the grunts were always talkative. Something was really wrong here, and not to mention suspicious. _"These two can't just enter a forest without a reason. Unless..."_ then it clicked.

There was some rustling of crumpled leaves nearby, and she knew what it meant. Kate jump out in time as a razor sharp leaf was shot from behind the bushes, nearly hitting her. She noticed that it was able to embed itself into a rock. She quickly took out her metal cylinder before pressing a button at the top. In an instant, it grew into a 6 feet metal rod as Kate got ready to fight. _"I hope there is enough space around here"_ it was still a little hard to move around with the rod, but she had to defend for herself from a possible attack. It was just a minute since the first strike, but nothing more than that came. This made Kate even more confuse, and she began to wonder whether was this just some sort of a diversion or were they slowing her down just so the other grunts could reach their goal.

She look back down at the paralyse grunt, and realised that both him and the unconscious grunt had somehow disappeared. "O-kay, what just happened here?" she scratch the back of her head as she retracted back her metal rod into a small cylinder before hooking it back onto her belt. This made it a whole lot more complicated, and not only did she lost two grunts right under her nose, she didn't even get an answer for her question. She just sighed at her own lost and stood back up. She look back at the bush the leaf was shot from, and knew that the person behind it was long gone. Looking back down at the leaf that was embedded into the rock, she put on a glove before gently pulling it out. Despite being a leaf, it was incredibly razor shape and could cut through anything. Slowly, Kate took out a cloth before wrapping around it, preventing it from injuring her and her friends. Once everything was settled, and look over to see that her partner was still perched onto her shoulder.

"I guess we better join the others. C'mon Pachi," with that, Kate follow back her trail out of the forest and back into Town. She pondered whether to just run down the route to try and catch up with them, or just capture a flying Pokemon to take her to the next city. Even if she wanted to get there right now, she chose to catch up to Brendan and May on foot. She might be able to find a few of the grunts along the way if she could.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at Vientown Ranger Base, Barlow and Crawford were still scanning the monitors of Unova for any signs of Team Dim Sun when the doors open. Barlow turn to see who was it, hoping it was Kellyn that had returned. However, it was just Luana and Elaine who had returned from their 3 days break. He was hoping that Kellyn would return soon from Sinnoh to help Kate with the situation. Then he remembered that Kate had somehow managed to put up a temporary base in Proffesor Juniper's home.<p>

"Luana, Elaine, I need your help with this," Barlow spoke, causing both the ranger and mechanic to stand in front of him in a line.

"What is it, sir?" Luana asked, not knowing what was going on around the base at the moment.

"Luana, I want you to follow me to Unova region to get our temporary base set up. Elaine, I need you to head over to the Ranger Union and let Chaiperson Erma know about this. Crawford, follow Elaine to the Union and get Rhythmi to go through the region as fast as possible. We need her to help with operating our comm and you to spot any threat caused by them. Everyone got that?" Barlow, being the the leader, instructed everyone. There was a cried of agreement before they started to leave the base.

"Oh, and Crawford, try to get the other 2 Top Rangers to help us out too if you could," Barlow spoke in a serious tone. Crawford nodded, knowing what he meant as he began to run towards the Union with Elaine.

"Ready, Luana?" Barlow asked, readying his styler.

"Ready," she took out her own styler too, as they spotted a couple of Pidgeot flying high above in the sky.

"Capture On!" they both yelled in unison as they ejected the disc from their stylers and straight at the 2 Pokemon. Ever since Kate had fiddled with their disc ejection in their stylers, the capture disc could be shot even further than before. They then move their stylers to guide the disc around the 2 Pidgeot, in which they both succeeded as a white light was emitted from the 2 Pokemon. The disc was later returned back to the styler while the Pokemon landed right in front of them.

"Capture complete," they said in unison.

"I have to give credit to Kate, she really does know her way around with stylers more than Elaine," Barlow commented, which in the distance, the said person sneeze for some unknown reasons.

"C'mon, let's go!" with that, both Luana and Barlow clamber onto the Pidgeot back before taking off into the sky.

Once they were in the sky, the Pidgeots would be flying towards Unova right now. And at that moment, Luana was thinking about something. "Sir, why have Kellyn not return from Sinnoh yet? Didn't he rescued that Riolu from some evil thugs and calmed some of the Psyducks that is in the way on one of the route?" those questions caught Barlow off guard, which almost made him fell off from the Pokemon's back.

After regaining his balance, Barlow began to find an answer to those questions. "Now that you mention it, it does sounds suspicious. Once we get to Unova, I'll call the Union about it to see if they know anything about it," this made Luana a little more easy, yet it doesn't put the fact that Kellyn haven't return for a few months.

"I just hope he could get to Unova in time to help Kate, and the same goes for Keith," Barlow couldn't agree more about what Luana said. Keith and Kellyn were Almia's best Top Rangers too, which goes the same for Kate, Sven and Wendy. Since the trouble at Unova had begun a few days ago, they only sent Kate to investigate about the transmission they received, but now it had gotten serious. They recently received a Voicemail by Kate about a couple of Team Dim Sun grunts being different from what they dealt with in the past. Not only were they less talkative, they had become more secretive and their outfits had some kind of design change.

However, Kate didn't include the part about the razor shape leaf which almost hit her. This might force her to return back to the Ranger Union and wait for back up. With Sven and Wendy being in a top secret mission, Kellyn at Sinnoh and Keith in another region, it would take a long time till Kate could get some back up.

Back at Almia, both Elaine and Crawford had just reach the Union's base of operation. "*Pant*Next time, try to capture some Doduo," Crawford said between breaths as he was exhausted from all the running he and Elaine did.

"C'mon, we need to head inside," Elaine quickly entered the base, which Crawford groan from how Elaine still had energy to run up into the base. Cursing himself for not being to stay fit, he got up and headed inside.

Elaine was the first to arrive in the operation room, where the Operators work and to help the Rangers in their mission. She quickly went up to Chairperson Erma, who was monitoring the place. "Chairperson Erma, I have some urgent message," Elaine called out, which cause some of the Operators and off duty Rangers to look at her strangely.

Erma turned around to see what was so urgent and noticed that it was Elaince, the mechanic of the Vientown Ranger Base. "What sort of urgent message?" Erma asked, while in the background everyone went back to their work.

"It is ab-" before Elaine could start explaining, Crawford crashed through the door out of exhaustion. The whole room didn't check to see what it was this time, since they knew it would be Crawford who came crashing in.

"S-Sorry bout that," Crawford said, rubbing his forehead as he pushed himself up and off the ground.

"As I was saying, the urgent message is about the Unova region," Elaine began, which Erma raised an eyebrow about what she was saying.

"Go on."

"Team Dim Sun has return, and Ranger Kate has some news about it. It seems they're more quieter than the last time we faced them, and they are much more secretive too. I don't know whether are these the same Dim Sun grunts we have face before, or did they just become much more smarter," the news was so shocking, that the whole entire operating room had screeched to a halt. The only sound audible was the sound of the markers on the main screen in the room. Even the Rangers through the headset was stunned about the news.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Erma asked.

"No, ma'am. This is really true, and Kate even took a picture of the grunt with her styler," Crawford took out her styler before showing it to Erma. She couldn't believe that Team Dim Sun had returned, and they had change.

"I want every Top Ranger on comm, now!" Erma ordered the Operators who were in charge. But something was up, as the Operators was having a hard time trying to connect to any of the Top Rangers available.

"Chairperson Erma, I can't get through Kellyn nor Keith!" a blonde girl called out. This goes the ssame for the other Operators as they tried different frequencies, hoping to call any of the Top Rangers, but fail as all they got was static.

"Try connecting to Kate," the blonde nodded, which she type something into her computer before they all hear the sound of the usual tone.

"*Click*This is Top Ranger Kate," they were relaxed as somehow, Kate manage to respond to the Union.

"Kate! Oh my Arceus, it is so good to hear from you," the blonde said, as she converted the talk from her monitor to the main screen in the room.

"Rhythmi? What's going on?" Kate asked, as the trace of worry was there.

"It seems that we lost contact to the other Top Rangers and we are only able to contact you," the blonde, who goes by Rhythmi, responded.

"That is impossible. Have you try contacting Kellyn?" Kate asked.

"I did, but all I get was static. That goes the same for the rest of the other Top Rangers, including Keith," this made Kate stopped running.

"Kate, this is Chairperson Erma. As of now, this is very dangerous mission, and until we can get in contact with the other rangers, I want you to stay out of danger if possible. I know that you have been training in hand to hand combat, but the Dim Sun grunts had become smarter at their movement," Erma commanded.

"Chairperson Erma, with all due respect, I am not backing down. It may seem I am going against your order, but I will stop Team Dim Sun one way or another. And Rhythmi, have you tried using the phone? Ranger Kate out," with that, the call was cut off by Kate's styler.

The whole room was now looking at Rhythmi, who was just dumbfounded about what had Kate asked her. "I sorta forgotten about that," the Operators and Rangers fell over at how Rhythmi could forget something like that. Taking out a cellphone from her pocket, she searched for Kellyn in the contact list, and found his name and number. Quickly, she called the number and plugged it into the speaker for everyone to hear. The sound of the tone dialling and ringing was heard throughout the room, as people was awaiting for any response.

Then the sound of a click signalling that the call was answered. "Hello?" a male voice was heard through it, and everyone was relieved that nothing bad had happened to him.

"Ranger Kellyn, can you hear me?" Chairperson Erma asked.

"Yes, and Rhythmi, this better be important as I am trying to calm down some of the Pokemons here. Whoa!" the sound of Pokemon pounding onto the ground could be heard.

"Sorry Kellyn, but this is sorta urgent. You see, Dim Sun has return and-" before Rhythmi could finish explaining, Kellyn was caught off guard.

"WHAT?!" this made everyone in the room winched at the sudden outburst.

"Anyway, we sent Kate to check it out, which is located in Unova. We were hoping you could find Keith and help her out," Rhythmi asked, after recovering from that sudden outbursts and hope that Kellyn won't be furious about it.

"I'll get there as soon as I finish my mission here. And tell me where is the last location Keith have been," Kellyn asked, as the sound of the Pokemon in the background had somehow calm down. Crawford was amaze at how Kellyn was able to calm the Pokemon while he's on the phone. He wasn't a Top Ranger for nothing.

"His last known location is Kanto, in Vientown Forest. Kellyn, why didn't you answer your styler when we tried to call you?" Rhythmi asked, knowing full well that every stylers would have a communicating device implanted into it.

"You did? I didn't hear anything, apart from the stampeding Rhyhorns over here," this made the Operators a little puzzled. Kellyn should be able to hear the Sytler's ringing, even in this circumstances.

"Well, alright then. Hope you get to Kate as soon as possible."

"Okay, Ranger Kellyn, out," the sound of the call getting cut was heard as the whole room turn to look at Erma. They were now awaiting for any new orders from the chairperson.

"What now, Chairperson Erma?" Elaine asked.

"I want every Operators to search for any Dim Sun grunts in the Unova region! They must be disbanded at all cost," with that, the whole room was back in operation as they began to scan for any grunts who had the emblem on their uniform. "Elaince, Crawford, thank you for informing me about this information. But your job isn't done yet, as I want you 2 to head over to Unova and get a temporary base to set up," Erma commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" with that, both of them exited the operating room and left the base for Unova.

* * *

><p>Back in Unova, Kate was still thinking about the call she had recently. "Pachi, it seems that Chairperson Erma wanted us to stay away from Dim Sun till backup arrives. Do you want to stop them?" Kate asked her partner, who was perched on her right should.<p>

The Pachirisu gave a nod, agreeing that they must stop the evil organisation at all cost, even if they were going against Erma's command. Kate just smile at how her partner could have such a similar answer to hers, knowing that she too would want to stop the Dim Sun members from returning. "I guess you don't want to wait for back up either," after what had happened earlier, she would need to stop them fast. With her regain energy, Kate ran down the route to the next city to catch up with the 2 teenage trainers.

While Kate was trying to catch up, both Brendan and May had finally arrived at the city with a Gym, the city of Striaton. It was located right beside a Pokemon Centre, and it was facing the route they came from. There were some small apartments located on both left and right side of the pathway to the Gym, while the streets was crowded with pedestrians. "C'mon, let's head to the Centre to heal our Pokemon," Brendan suggested, as he held onto May's wrist while trying to get through the crowded streets of the city. This made May blush a little, since she never expected Brendan to hold onto her wrist.

It wasn't long when they emerged at the other end of the crowd and was panting from how it was tiring from just trying to pass the crowded street. They were now standing right in front of the Gym, and was amaze at the architecture design. It look like a mansion, with a 3-storey building and 2 pillars in the front with 2 doors between them. They wondered how much money was spent into building a Gym like this. They then turn to head to the Centre to heal their Pokemon while waiting for Kate to arrive.

Once they entered the Centre, Nurse Joy greeted them and ask about their Pokemon well being. The 2 teenagers took out their respective Unova Pokemons from their pockets before handing them to Joy. "It will take a few minutes for them to heal. You may wander around the place to better understand the city," Joy suggested, which Brendan happily agreed to it.

"C'mon, let's read about the city's info," as he was about to take a flier when the doors to the Centre opened to review a very tired looking Ranger.

"I... should have... tried... capturing a Pokemon..." Kate was completely exhausted with her hair completely a mess and her uniform was just a wrinkled mess.

"Let me guess, crowd issue?" May asked while Kate went towards one of the seat available in the Centre. She slumped down onto the seat and tried to catch her breath while her partner curled up into a small fuzzy ball before doozing off to sleep.

"I did not expect that the city was having a fair today," Brendan said while reading the flier in his hands. "They are having a Flower festival today, and later tonight, the people will plant some flowers into the ground with their soulmate to have a happy life and good health," this somehow caught May's interest.

"Really? Can we go? Please?" May begged while holding onto Brendan's arm.

"Erm, sure, okay," this made May completely happy as she hugged him tightly, causing Brendan to blush madly. Kate just sat there, just enjoying what was happening around her. Brendan just gave her a glare, telling her to not speak of this. Kate just giggled at how red Brendan was at the very moment, knowing that these two would make a cute couple.

After the Pokemon were healed, both Brendan and May had reclaimed their poke balls and left the Centre. Kate was close behind, with her partner still fast asleep in her arms. It wasn't a long walk since the Gym was located right beside the Centre. "Well, May, this is officially your first Pokemon battle. I wish you luck in it," Brendan stated as the 3 teenagers entered the Gym.

Within the gym, they were amaze that the place was also served as a restaurant. There were tables and chairs on both side of the room, and 3 different symbols on the floor in the middle of the room, each with a different design; a green panel with a leaf symbol, a red panel with a fire symbol and a blue panel with a rain droplet symbol. "So, where's the Gym Leader?" May asked, completely not knowing what was the rule around the place.

"Well, it says here that we can only proceed if we answer the question correctly. There are 3 questions and 3 rooms respectively, and all of which have a similar answer. Grass, Fire and Water," Brendan explained, as he read out loud what was in the flier. "The question is that, we must step on the panel that has a type advantage of the symbol displayed on the curtain," the flier was right. On the first curtain, it was painted with red to signify that it's a fire type.

Kate went and step on the blue panel before a light buzz was heard. The curtain was rolled up and revealed another room. This time, the curtain was painted blue, signifying that it's water. It was May's turn to pick the right answer and stepped on the green panel before the same thing happened. In the last room, a green curtain was shown. Brendan put the flier back into his bag and stepped onto the red panel for the last curtain to roll up.

Brendan was shocked to see that the Gym Leader was non other than Cheren himself. "You! How in the world did you become a Gym Leader?!" Brendan asked out of surprise.

"I took the role since the past Gym Leaders left to train, after they were defeated by 2 trainers, whose names are Hilbert and Hilda," Cheren explained.

"Well, luckily for you, I won't need to challenge you cause I defeated you fair and square back at the professor's home."

"So, you're scared of challenging me to a battle?"

"Oh, heck no, I just don't want to embarrass you in front of the ladies," this made both May and Kate giggled at that comment.

This made Cheren a little pissed, since he was not only insulted in front of 2 girls, but Brendan was completely right about what he had said earlier. Even though he doesn't like to just give the badge without a battle, he just sighed and loosen up a bit. Searching through his pocket, he found the badge he was searching for in his trouser's pocket. "Ugh, fine, here's the badge," Cheren reluctantly gave Brendan the badge for his win the day before he started his quest.

"And now, May, it's your turn to battle him," this made May a little nervous. Although she had battle a lot of trainers while on her way to Striaton City, he had never battle with a Gym Leader before.

"C'mon May, you can do it," Kate reassured her, trying her best to help May calm down before her battle.

"Alright, here I go," with that, she made sure to use her Unova Pokemon, including her starter. She won't be using her Pokemon from Hoenn, since it would be a little unfair to use them at all. Cheren smirk, knowing that the girl wouldn't have the skill to battle a Gym Leader like him and would easily win the match against her.

"Alright, this will be a one-on-one battle. You may switch between 2 Pokemons on hand. Ready?" a judge stood at the sidelines of the battlefield, while both Brendan and Kate stood behind May to watch her battle with Cheren. Both May and Cheren nodded that they were both ready for the battle.

"Fight!" after the call, both of them toss out their respective Poke Balls, with Cheren calling out a Patrat while May called out a Glameow.

"Glameow, lower its defenses by using leer!" May instructed as her Pokemon frightens the Patrat Pokemon, thus lowering its defenses.

"Patrat, Detect your opponent's next move!" Patrat nodded, as it kept a close eye on Glameow's next attack.

"Glameow, use growl to loser his attack," the said Pokemon purred cutely, causing Patrat's to not hurt Glameow too much.

"You know, this is getting boring. I think I should strike first. Patrat, use Bite and try to prevent her from moving!" Cheren was determine to not lose his first match against May.

"Glameow, dodge the attack and use Scratch!" the Pokemon just barely dodge Patrat's attack before swiping its back with its claw. The Patrat cried out in pain from the sudden attack, before trying to Tackle Glameow down.

"Glameow, dodge it and use Quick Attack," May was now getting better at understanding the way of Pokemon battle. She could command her Pokemon like she was an expert, even though she enters Contest all of the time. It might be in her blood since her father's a Gym Leader back in Hoenn. Glameow's attack cause the Patrat to hit a wall from the impact, before it fainted right as it landed onto the ground.

"Patrat, no!" Cheren exclaimed, surprise that May was able to defeat his Pokemon without getting touch at all. He recalled the fainted Pokemon before taking out another Poke ball. Brendan was too surprise at how May battle. Though her father was a Gym Leader, so it might explain the reason why she battled like she knew what she was doing. Kate on the other hand just enjoyed the battle, as it might keep her entertained at how intense the battle was between a trainer and a Gym Leader. She might give it a shot one day since it look interesting to battle with Pokemon that one had been caught.

May recalled her Glameow back into its Poke ball before getting her 2nd Pokemon for the next battle. "I won't be defeated by a rookie trainer like ya! C'mon, Lillipup!" he tossed out another poke ball and a puppy Pokemon emerged from it.

"I think this calls for Oshawott to finish up some stuff here," May tossed out her poke ball, and the said Pokemon emerged from it.

"Lilli, hit him with everything you got!" the said Pokemon nodded before trying a Tackle on Oshawott.

"Oswott, dodge his attack and use water gun to blow him back!" May instructed. Her starter just barely dodge the attack by Lillipup before using its Water Gun. Since the pup was too close, the attack did a great deal of damage to it.

"Lilli, don't give in!" Cheren tried to encourage his Pokemon, but it was proved useless as May's Oshawott used Tackle to finish it off. This made the pup to faint at that spot, causing made Cheren to fall to his knees in shock.

"No way... did I just battle like my dad?" May ask, completely surprised on how she battled with Cheren. She was unaware on how she battled, but she knew what she was doing.

"Wow, May, you are just amazing!" Brendan exclaimed before giving May a hug. Kate just smile at the outcome of the battle, expecting that May would win the battle. She knew Cheren was overconfident about his skill in the battle, and thus losing in the end since he didn't expect that May was this good.

"T-Thanks, Brendan," May stuttered before they broke the hug. They look into each other's eyes before blushing madly. They stood like that for a few minutes, not knowing what to do. Cheren then stood up before coughing to caught the attention of the 2 trainers and the ranger. Both of the trainers blushed madly at what they did earlier.

"Anyway, here's your first badge for defeating me," Cheren said, a little sad that he was beaten yet again.

"Cheer up, you did your best," Kate reassured.

"Yeah, thanks," Cheren replied, still a little sad but happy that he gave it all his best.

"Now, let's head back to the Centre and get ready for tonight," with that, both of the trainers left the Gym, leaving Kate and Cheren in the battlefield.

"Hey, Cheren is it?" Kate wanted to talk to him about an important subject. Cheren nodded in respond, which Kate continued her question. "I know that you are a Gym Leader, but can I ask a favour from you?" this caught Cheren's interest as Kate began to explain about Unova's upcoming danger.

"Hmm, alright, I guess I can do that," Cheren replied.

"Great, thanks for the help," Kate then left the gym, hoping to catch up to the 2 trainers.

"So, other Rangers are on their way here..." Cheren just look up into the ceiling, thinking about what might happen one day.

* * *

><p>In an unknown location, a dark figure was sitting on a chair while looking out the window. It was a rather stormy weather with rain hitting the window and lightning visible in the distance. A knock on the door was later heard, though the figure didn't move at all. "Come in," was all it said.<p>

"Ma'am, it seems we may have a problem," a grunt said as he held 3 folders in his right arm.

"Explain," the figure, who was revealed to be a woman, was unfaze at what was happening at the moment.

"Well, there seems to be a ranger who is getting in our search of a stone," this caught the figure attention as she turns around to face the grunt.

"Who is this ranger we're speaking of?" she asked, with venom in her voice.

"T-Top Ranger Kate, a girl from the Almia region," the grunt stuttered as the lightning in the background made it even more uncomfortable in the office. The figure was scary as she was right now. He placed a folder containing Kate's information on the desk which the figure began to study about her.

"Hmm, interesting. A Vatonnage Styler and hand-to-hand combat," she scanned through the pages, reading each article in amazing speed.

"And she has 2 trainers at her side," the grunt then handed her the 2 remaining folder.

"May, the daughter of Norman, Gym Leader of Petalburg City. She isn't much of a trouble since she enters Contest," she spoke without care before she started reading the 3rd folder. This time, she was utterly concern and slam her fist on the desk.

"He is the main threat to me, as well as the Top Ranger! I want the search team to look for the stone to be quicken!" the grunt saluted before quickly leaving the office to avoid the wrath of his leader.

"Brendan Birch, the son of Prof. Birch, and the Champion of Hoenn and the conqueror of Battle Frontier. You will be a thorn to my side, as well as that Ranger," she said with venom in her voice. She was not expecting a Champion to be visiting Unova. She then spun back to facing the window, with lightning was struck outside. It revealed a part of her body, which had a small "R" implanted just below her collar of the shirt. "I, Sird, former Admin of Rocket, will not be tolerated by this insignificant," a loud thunder was heard later, as she await for the stone she was seeking.

* * *

><p><strong>DB : Well, I somehow ended up making this chapter long as well.<strong>

**Kate : No kidding**

**Brendan : Hmm, Champion of Hoenn and Conqueror of the Battle Frontier, I liek it!**

**May : Just don't bug me about it.**

**DB : The 6th chapter would be out in a week or 2... *shrugs***

**Brendan : R & R Please!**


	6. Scavenger Hunt

**DB : Hmm, I may need to list out the character ages at the end of the chapter. It will help me, and the readers of course, on how old is the characters are.**

**Kate : You couldn't do that in the 1st or 2nd chapter, can you.**

**DB : It sorta slip my mind.**

**May : I wanna know what happen next for us. The Flower festival.**

**DB : Oh, dat. Well, Disclaimer first, then Chapter.**

**Brendan : DB does not own Pokemon, Pokemon Rangers, P-. You know what? DB does NOT own anything related to the Pokemon franchise.**

**DB : Simplify, easier than read the whole list of stuff I had incorporated into the Fanfic. Now onto the chapter...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6 : Scavenger Hunt<p>

Night time was getting close in the Striaton City, with everyone getting ready for what was to come. Tonight, there will couples planting a beautiful flower in hopes of good health, and a happy life. There would be a scavenger hunt event after planting the flowers, which will be located either in the route to the previous town, the city itself, or the route to the next city. May wanted to plant a flower with Brendan, who agreed to do it with her.

"You guys better find a spot soon," Kate said, as she was having a drink she recently bought at the fair. The sight of the couples was romantic, either the guys were giving the girls some flowers, or were having a splendid time together. Kate sighed, deep down, she wished Kellyn was here with her. Unknown to anyone but herself and her partner Pachi, she had developed a crush on Kellyn. Ever since she met Kellyn in school, she had grown to liking him a lot. Her heart skipped a beat when he spoke to her. She knew what it meant when her feelings for him grew even more as time passes. And that feeling was how she grew a crush on him. Though she didn't have the courage to tell him that she liked him. It might ruin their friendship, or worse, Kellyn wouldn't even like her back. Things were rushing around in her mind with every outcome of how she could tell Kellyn about it.

"Kate, are you alright?" May asked, breaking Kate's train of thoughts.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Kate reassured while waving her hand. The thoughts of her thinking about Kellyn had vanished and was now paying attention to what was happening around her. The fair was beginning to become crowded with couples, buying roses for their soulmate in hopes that they would be together for a long time, possibly till their end of their time.

"So, May, how does it feel to battle with a Gym Leader?" Kate questioned as she stood just below a tree while May sat on the grass, waiting on Brendan to return.

"To be honest, it feels great to battle them," May laugh, knowing that she indeed had her father's blood in pokemon battles. Maybe one day, she can take on the Pokemon League, but would be on another time since she still had a dream of becoming a top coordinator.

"Maybe you can even try to battle the Champion himself," Kate quipped. Her Pachirisu had hopped into May's arms, before cuddling to sleep.

"Yeah, maybe," she adsentmindedly stroke the squirrel's tail, since it was fluffy. Thoughts bout being a trainer than a coordinator sounds so weird to her. Maybe she had the potential to become one, but only time could tell as she still had a dream of being a coordinator. She knew Brendan could become a Champion since she loves to battle. He even help her out with it before the Gym battle.

"I have a question, May. What are your thoughts on Brendan?" this question caught May off guard, causing her to fall over. This caused Pachi to scramble off of her and climb onto Kate's shoulder out of fright. May quickly sat back up, with her face being scarlet red after hearing that question.

"Erm... er-," May couldn't find the words to describe her thoughts on Brendan. She couldn't have a crush on him already after just meeting him. But why does it feel like she knew him a long time ago. And why was she blushing so badly after that question. She was now having a million thoughts about the question, that she beginning to feel dizzy.

"Hey, May, your alright?" Kate asked, realising that May hadn't replied to her question yet. Maybe she was stunned, maybe she was embarrased about it. Fortunately, the said guy had just returned from the Centre.

"S-sure. W-why?" May was now stuttering,

"Cause Brendan's here," Kate pointed out.

May turned around before coming face to face with the teenage boy, causing her to jump."What'd I miss?" Brendan asked, raising an eyebrow since May had just fallen over again.

"Oh, nothing much," Kate just couldn't help but give a small grin after what had happened. May did have a crush on the boy, she just didn't realise it yet.

Half an hour had passed, the people on the street started to move to the park, getting ready for the festival to begin. Fortunately Brendan brought some roses to plant since it's a flower festival, and roses are a symbol of love. May gets reminded of those roses from a certain green headed guy, but she shook it off and remembered why she came here. Kate was behind them, reading a brochure that she took while looking through the food stalls along the street.

"Hmm, a scavenger hunt after the plantation, cool," Kate commented. Each couple would get a different list of things to find either in the city or the route leading from the city. Although this meant that Kate would have to be on lookout for those Team Dim Sun grunts. She wanted to know how did they become uncooperative after that incident.

"Alright everyone, the flower festival is about to begin. So get together with your soulmate and get ready to plant your flower. But make sure to make a wish before planting it, so it would come true. Then we'll have a scavenger hunt later on," the announcement was spoken throughout the park.

Both May and Brendan sat down together, awaiting for the festival to begin. Kate stood behind them, to watch over the festival and make sure that not a single grunt of that organisation was around. She made a mental note to get a disguise soon though, as she stood out like a sore thumb. This was her first solo mission after all, till her teammates arrived. Till then, she's on her own.

Then the sound of the bell was heard, signalling that the festival had begun. May and Brendan began to wish something they both had in mind, before planting the rose into the ground. Without them noticing, they both had the same wishes. Everyone else did the same thing, wishing and planting. It was an enjoyable sight, with everyone either holding hands after finishing off or sat together to talk what they hope for.

It wasn't long when another announcement was made. "Alright everyone, time for your scavenger hunt! Within those brochure you acquire will have a list of treasures you will need to find. Now get hunting, and the 1st couple to finish first would get a chance of winning a pair of bikes and this outfit," a huge screen showed 2 identical bikes and an outfit. It consist of a blue tank top, with a black jacket that reach just above the stomach, a pair of dark brown knee length shorts and a pair of sneakers. Kate realised that maybe if they win this, she could change into that. She took out the brochure and noticed that the list consist of; a special Shiny, something slippery, a round shape object, any fluffy material and something noisy.

"So, what's our list to find?" Brendan asked before looking over the list.

"I think I have 2 objects that's in this list," May commented as she took out what seems to be a MP3 and a fluffy Skitty pokedoll.

"Alright, 2 down, 3 to go," Brendan ticked those off before going through his bag, but couldn't find anything slippery. The rule also stated that the poke ball doesn't count as a scavenger item, since it was the easiest to obtain. Instead, he found the bouncing ball he played with Snivy earlier.

"Make that 3 things off the list," Kate added, crossing that off the list.

"I can get the slippery stuff, but that leaves the shiny stuff to find," it might be a little challenging to find anything that gave out a shine, but they like a good challenge.

Right before they head off to find the shiny object, May made sure to grab a bar of soup, since it was slippery to just hold it in her palm. Now they were heading down route 3 to look for the last object on their list. "So, once we finish the hunt, we should stay for the night at the Centre," Kate suggested, leading the way with both of her hands behind her head. It was a very starry night, she had to admit.

"Sounds like a plan," Brendan agreed, with May nodding along.

It took them half an hour to reach a small daycare and a school along the route. The school looks a little scary since it was all dark and gloomy under the night sky. "I never realise a school can be this scary," May held onto Brendan's arm. She doesn't like the feeling of that school was giving off.

"C'mon, the sooner we find that last item, the sooner we can head back," with that, the 3 teenagers head down the route before Brendan spotted something on his right. Right pass a small patch of grass and trees, there's a small opening leading to a cave.

"Hey, girls, how bout we check in there," Brendan suggested while shaking May off of her arm.

"Sure, I have some flashlights with me," Kate took out 3 flashlights before handing 2 of each to Brendan and May respectively.

They walked over to the entrance while making sure not to bump into any Pokemon along the way. Kate was the first to enter the cave, making sure it was safe to move around without worries of the rocks falling onto their heads. "The cave is safe to enter," she whispered out, to avoid startling any wild Pokemon living within the cave.

"So, how do we find any shiny thing in this dark cave?" May asked, seemingly uncomfortable with the black space around them. It was indeed pitch black in the cave, they could barely see what's ahead of them without turning their flashlight on. Kate flick hers on, shining the way around the cave.

"I'm sure there's gotta be something in here," Brendan spoke, looking left and right to find any peculiar object. The sound of the rippling waves could be heard from time to time, with water droplets dripping into a clear lake from above.

"Well, we can't take the water back with us. It's not shiny enough, and it doesn't fit with the whole shiny part," Kate continued along the path when she spotted something unnatural around the cave. There's seems to be a newly dug hole just beside the lake, with footsteps leading back and forth through the small tunnel. Out of pure curiousity, Kate went and examined the small tunnel. There seems to be faint sounds of someone working deep within the tunnel.

"What's in there?" Brendan asked, looking over May's shoulder, who stood behind Kate to look into the tunnel.

"I'm not sure. But I'll have to check it out. I don't suppose you two would just wait for me here," Kate look back into the tunnel, with a couple of faint shouting coming from the other end. The other two teenagers shook their head, causing Kate to sigh.

"Stay close and don't get us caught," she warned them before they ventured down the tunnel. It was indeed a tight space to move, however they were able to move freely without a worry of getting their skin bruise by the sharp edges of the rocks, protruding from within the walls of the tunnel. The faint sound of machine and someone talking was getting louder and louder when Kate held up her hand, signalling them to stop. She sneaked up a little, just at the end of the tunnel when she could make out 2 figures.

Since Kate was close to the figures, she could hear them talk clearer. "It seems like the boss wants us to find some stone," the 1st shadow figure spoke. The tone of his voice sounded almost as he was annoyed and uninterested at what they were looking for.

"No idea, the boss said we would know when we find it. But could the boss be more specific? It'll take us less time to find the object the boss is waiting for," the 2nd figure said. Kate doesn't understand what they were talking about, but she understood what they were looking for. A special rock they're searching for their boss, whom she guess could be someone who doesn't want to be found out. And judging by their uniforms, they look suspiciously like Team Rocket grunts instead of Dim Sun. Just what the heck were they doing here? Were they working for Giovanni to steal some stone, but the 'R' logo on their uniform had a red slashed across it. Maybe it could be another type of branch of Team Rocket they're under.

Just like the Dim Sun grunts she faced earlier, the Rocket grunts seem to be more secretive too. Were they working together? This had been going on in Kate's mind. "Hey, Kate, what's the hold up?" Brendan whispered the question, to avoid detection.

"Some Rocket grunts at the exit of the tunnel. Somehow, they are different from the usual grunts the other Rangers told at the Union," just then, a third grunt, also a Rocket, stepped up to them.

"What were you two talking about? Get back to wo-," the 3rd grunt stopped abrudtly. This made Kate a little worried, hoping that they weren't found out yet. But she cursed her luck when the grunt turned her head towards the tunnel.

"There's someone in the tunnel," he spoke with a bit of venom in his voice. He tossed out a poke ball before a Mankey emerged from it. Kate took note that there's some kind of headwear it wore. But she didn't care about what it wore, with the Pokemon already closing in. "Alright, come out or Mankey here will make you wish you never found this place."

"Crap," Kate got her styler ready, realising there's not enough space to use her metal staff to block the attack if the Mankey strikes. Using her partner Pokemon might help out a little, but Mankey could proved a little challenging with their unforgiving nature.

"I have a Physic type Pokemon that could help," Brendan spoke out, caughing Kate off guard. Maybe this won't be a difficult situation after all.

"Alright, and I have an idea," with that, Kate told them of her plan.

"I'm getting impatient here," the grunt said, tapping his foot out of annoyance. "Alright, if you won't come out, I'll just do this. Mankey, use Seismic To-." just then, Kate walked out of the tunnel, hand raised.

"Alright, you got me," Kate said, with her Pachirisu on her shoulder.

"A ranger, eh? I bet she was the one who almost knew about our secre-," the 2nd grunt quickly elbowed the 1st grunt to shut him up. Kate's hunch was right, Rocket and Dim Sun were working together, but why.

"Ugh, maybe the boss could just _incinerate_ you now if you never shut your trap!" the 3rd grunt yelled at the 1st grunt.

"S-Sorry! Please, don't tell the boss about this. I beg you!" alright, this _incinerate_, or whatever it was, seems to scare these grunts a lot, as well as this boss. Maybe she should had wait for back up to arrive, but she had saved Almia from danger, with Kellyn and Keith of course.

"Since he blab his mouth off, I guess keeping you prisoner is no longer needed. Mankey, finish her off," the grunt instructed the said Pokemon.

"I don't think so," Kate said with a grin. Just as the Mankey was about to attack, a Psystike collided with the fighting type from out of nowhere, sending it crashing into the wall of the cave before slumping down onto the ground, out cold.

"Good signal by the way," May spoke, somehow was a few feet from the 2nd grunt.

"And I knew having Ralts is a good idea too," Brendan leaned against the walls, crossing his arms with a smug look. He caught this rarest Ralts in Unova back when they just left Nuvema Town. He knew Ralts couldn't have been born Unova, but it was something he had to capture it knowing full well that it belongs in another habitat.

"H-How...," the 2nd grunt was sure they couldn't get in any other way through the only tunnel, which they were facing at.

"Teleport. Maybe you have heard of before?" he shrugged, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning against.

"Who cares! Sound the al-," Kate quickly knocked him out with her shrunken staff. The other two grunts were put to sleep thanks to Brendan's Ralt's Hypnosis.

"Alright, now take their uniforms off Brendan. We can use their uniforms as disguises. While me and May will find a way to hide the grunts," Brendan nodded, with the help of his Ralts, the clothes was taken off while May and Kate searched for a place to hid the three bodies to avoid suspicions.

They found a small hole in one of the walls and it was perfect for hiding the bodies. They tie the grunts up before carrying them into the hole. Brendan later pushed the metal shelf over the hole, completely covering the hole and not a single trace could be seen. They quickly put on their disguises, checking if they had anything missing before Kate hid her styler behind a bunch of rocks just before the tunnel. If any of the grunts saw her styler, then it would make the whole place be on alert and she doesn't want that. They need to be quiet and secretive of their presence here.

"Alright, you two, I need you to find and locate this special stone. While I will find out what are they planning," Kate instructed, with the two teenagers nodding. They split up, to two separate tunnels. Kate's Pachirisu hid under the black cap she wore. Though it appeared to look flat, it's quite spacious for Pachirisu to hide under.

After running pass multiple passages and a grunts who doesn't seem to bother to check who it was thanks to her disguise, Kate finally found something which might help her out. A laboratory, with all kinds of chemicals placed within the racks with labels of unknown elements she never heard of; Iridium, Tritinium and many more.

However, she was looking for some clues on their plans, even something about the stone they're looking for. But all she could find was formulaes and elements within the lab, nothing else. She hit a dead end in this find, with nothing but a single piece of note on the floor till she realised she missed that.

She picked it up before flipping it over, reading it over quietly. The note read out;

_Find the stone that has the ability to xxxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxx Pokemon. If touched by hand, it will xxxxxxx with the xxxxxxxx hand. Please use either..._

The rest of the note couldn't be read at all, thanks to the smudge left by someone who dropped some ink over it either by accident or on purpose. But it was a clue nonetheless, shoving it under her cap for her partner to hold onto it.

"I wonder how's the other 2 doing," she wondered as she continued to search through the lab, spotting an archieve room along the way.

Meanwhile, both Brendan and May were searching high and low for any weird looking stone that's different. It could just be an evolution stone, but the Rocket grunts won't be doing here if it were just those kind of stones. It could be something else they had never seen before. Just as they hit a dead end when the ground gave way right under May's feet. Brendan quick reflexes managed to grab hold of May's wrist, preventing her from falling down into a dark pit.

"Thanks, Brendan," May was hoisted up back over the edge when something shiny caught Brendan's eyes. It was coming from a small tunnel from the hole that the ground had made.

"Ralts, try to Teleport us in there," Brendan instructed, with his Pokemon nodded before the horn on his head glowed. Within a couple of seconds, they were teleported into the tunnel. There was bright stone, shining brightly in the end of the tunnel. "Something shiny, I guess this is the one," May reached out to the stone, with Brendan doing the same thing.

Right as they touched it together, they were shocked with something unknown. They tried to pry their hands from the stone, but they couldn't move it at all. It was like their hands were glued to it. It was beginning to hurt, a lot, like a thousand needles piercing through their entire body while the bright light starts to engulf them entirely. Though just as soon as the lights engulf, it reverts into a dimly lit rock.

The sudden pain left both Brendan and May breathless and in pain, though they finally able to pull their hands back without trouble. "Wh-what the heck was that?!" May exclaimed, holding onto her hand, checking for any bruise or anything out of the ordinary.

"I-I don't know exactly what had happen," Brendan was as confused as she was, looking at his hand a couple of times while examining the rock. Somehow, the light started to fade as time passes. Brendan assumed that it could be that there wasn't any energy left within it after what it did to them. Which reminds him, what did the rock do to them after touching them, leaving them in such pain.

_"Possibly just a light show,"_ a voice spoke out of nowhere, causing Brendan to look left and right.

"Hey, May, did you just-," Brendan was interrupted as a voice called them outside the tunnel. It sounded like a male voice was calling out to them, possibly one of the grunts. May was looking a bit nervous, thinking they were found out.

"Have you found anything yet?" the grunt asked. May breath out a sigh of relief after realising their identity was still a secret while Brendan called out a yes. If they want to play the part, they had to act the part. A rope ladder was later dropped over the tunnel they were in before a couple of grunts entered the tunnel they were in.

"Here it is, though I'm not sure what it is," Brendan stated, moving out of the way for the 2 grunts to take a look. This made the 2 grunts to look at it with shock expressions. This made both of the teenagers felt uneasy, hoping they didn't mess anything up.

"I can't believe you found it. The boss would be so happy!" the grunt exclaimed, running back from the way they came in. Brendan and May quickly followed suit, to find out what they had found.

Back with Kate, she had gotten nothing but the stained piece of note throughout the lab and the small archive room. "Well, I guess this is a bust. Let's go back and meet with the others, Pachi," with that, Kate left the room without a single trace of her being in there at all. However, if she paid more attention, she would have spotted a camera just above the shelf, watching her every move. The camera feed was being watched by one of the Admins, who wasn't looking all too happy about. They had been compromised by the Ranger and someone else.

"I never expected you to be here at all," the voice spoke with ice dripping in his voice, completely unfaze of how easily they were discovered. They had made sure to prevent any detection of their movements, and yet here they were, in the cave with them.

Right as Kate turned a corner when a grunt ran pass her. Shortly followed by Brendan and May who was chasing after the grunt when they spotted her. They slowed to a stop, wondering if Kate found anything. "What happened? Were you found out?" Kate asked out of worry.

"Not exactly. We more like found something they were looking for," Brendan said, rubbing his head.

"What?!" Kate taken this with surprise, since they instead of prevented Rocket from getting what they came for, they found it for them instead.

"We need to-," but before she could say anything, a group of grunts surrounded them in a quick motion. Kate now was sure this whole Rocket grunts were a lot different than the ones the other Rangers had face back then. They were never this fast nor this tidy when trying to block off their opponents.

"What the?!" Brendan look around, but found no way to tell whether they were discovered or not. But they would be answered when an Admin stood behind the grunts.

"I never expected we can be infiltrated that easily. Will have to let the boss know about this," the voice said, while keeping his face under the shadow to avoid getting recognised.

"Who are you people?" May asked, completely not sure what was going on nor why was Rocket here anyway.

"Heh, we have learnt our lesson from giving out useful infomation. From now on, we always keep our mouth shut, even the newbies," the voice spoke, with a visible grin. Kate recognise that grin anywhere, but for now, they had to escape.

"Ralts! Teleport us out of here!" Brendan instructed, but found out his Ralts had been knocked out without realising. "What?! How?" he was shocked that his Pokemon was taken out easily and fast with no signs of bruises or whatsoever.

"I guess the boss is right. Sneak attacks is so much better than just appearing out of nowhere," the Admin chuckled, as a Gloom appeared behind the grunts. "Now, let's see how long you can hold against a newly trained grunts, who now have the same skills as a Pokemon Trainer," with that, almost all of the grunt threw out their poke balls. They were completely surrounded and nowhere to escape, and their only means of escape is out cold.

"I hope you three will entertain the grunts. Though I doubt they can defeat the Champion himself," with that, the Admin left, leaving the three alone with the grunts and their Pokemon, all ready for a fight. May just look over at Brendan out of shock, though Kate knew about this and wondered how did the Admin found out. But for now, they had to concentrate on their current situation.

"Brendan, we'll talk later. For now, find a way to heal Ralts while me and May will try to buy you some time," Kate took out her staff, readying for a fight. Her Pachirisu stayed her cap, in case anything tried to grab her and become separated again.

"Me? But I just barely knew how to battle with Pokemon after the Gym Battle!" May exclaimed.

"Just try something. I noticed you have the skills to become a trainer, but- Whoa!" Kate barely dodged Shadow Ball from a Ghastly by jumping to her left. Just as a Machoke was about to attack her, she swipe her staff at the Pokemon feet, knocking it off before doing a back flip to avoid more attacks.

"May! Help me out!" Brendan cried out as his Swampert barely able to hold out two attacks from two different Pokemons. May send out her Blaziken, hoping it could help out a little, which it did.

"Damn, now I really could use some back up," Kate cursed, using her staff to block Ice Punch by a Hitmontop. Just how many Pokemons were there anyway, she wondered. May ran over to Brendan before she kneel down beside his Ralts, hoping to help him out. Just as she touch the Ralts's head, the psychic Pokemon glowed dimly, before it started to wake up. Right after waking up when it started to evolve too, to Kirlia.

"Whoa! What did you do?!" Brendan yelled out of shock after seeing his Ralts had evolved into a Kirlia.

"I don't know, but let's find out after we escape," with that, the Kirlia nodded before its horns glowed. Within a second, they vanished into thin air before reappearing in front of the tunnel, where they had came in from. "Quick! Dump your disguises and get out of here!" they quickly took off their disguises, with Kate collecting back her Vatonage styler. They then quickly ran out through the tunnel, with their Pokemons back in their Poke balls. They had no idea whether they were being chase or not, with their minds set on escaping the place and away from the cave.

After a few minutes of running, they sat by the entrance to the Striaton City, caughing their breath after their flee. Brendan hunch over, caughing her breath, while May leaned against the trunk of the tree for support. Kate, on the other hand, was checking if they were followed, with her partner Pokemon perched on her shoulder. The note was already kept within her bag, in case they lost it without realising. "First thing first, get the scavenger hunt done. Then we can talk about what had happened back in the cave" Brendan spoke between breathes, the girls nodded at that. He took out the objects that were listed in their list when he realised they had forgotten all about the lit stone.

"Damn it!" Brendan cursed, frustrated after going through all that to only came back empty handed.

"I don't think it really involves an object being shiny. Look!" May pointed towards the amount of people with dissapointment written all over their faces. They all had bright objects within their hands, but all of them were rejected by the host of the hunt.

"Wait, I remember something called a Shiny Pokemon. From what I recall, Shiny Pokemon has a different type of colour to the rest of the Pokemons in the wild. And if we look closely, your Ralts, or in this case Kirlia, has a different colour than a normal Kirlia," Kate pointed out. Brendan called out his Kirlia, realising that it was indeed a different colour instead of the usual green. He thought maybe it was caused by some cruel kid who changed the colour of Ralts's skin from green to sickening blue hue. Guess it was indeed a special Ralts, or in this case, a Shiny Kirlia.

They walk up to the host of the scavenger hunt, with the Kirliar being held by May. "Is this all the object in the list?" Kate asked, handing out the 4 objects which consists of May's MP3 Player and her fluffy Skitty doll, Brendan's ball which he played it with his Snivy, and the bar of soap May had gotten from the Pokemon Centre.

"And, what about the Shiny part?" the host asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Was this kind of Shiny you were seeking for?" Kate move a little to allow May to show the host the Shiny Kirlia.

"Yes, yes indeed. This is the Shiny I had been looking for. I knew people would misread about the Shiny part," the host chuckled about how they could dismissed the Shiny as any bright object and not a Pokemon with a different colour. "Anyway, congratulations for winning the Scavenger Hunt! Here's your prizes," indeed, a new set of clothes and a pair of bikes was shown to the three teenagers.

Just then, a girl with a brown hair tied into a ponytail came rushing by. "Aww, I was beaten to the punch. Though I never expected a Ranger to be here either," the girl spoke.

"What?" Kate was really confused at what was going on when the girl look over at them.

"The name's Hilda. Now if you don't mind, but could I get an autograph from the Champion of Hoenn?" Hilda look over at Brendan, with a pen and note in hand. "A co-worker of mine really likes your style of battling. And after seeing you in the region, well... let's just say he flipped," she waved it off like it was something normal.

"Alright, Brendan, or should I call you Champion since you kept this secret from me. Mind explaining why you've never told me you beat Steven back in Hoenn," May said, obviously not ammuse by Brendan's secret.

"She... I... what..." Brendan was now in complete lost of words, and notice Kate had disappeared with the clothes, leaving him to deal with the girls. He was truly stuck on this one.

* * *

><p>Within a shady building, a couple of grunts began to move the dimly lit rock onto the table of the lab, after it had been taken from the cave. Since it was never taken away, they felt like it was a victory when their boss entered the lab, examining the stone. The grunt was about to report about the three teenagers when their boss yell out of rage. "The stone had been drained of its energy! It's completely useless now!" this scared off the two grunts, who quickly ran out of the lab while a 3rd grunt, who stood by the door, got the full wrath of the boss.<p>

"I guess we should have captured those three," the Admin from before spoke, shaking his head.

* * *

><p><strong>Me : Damn... how long was this before I began writing again?<strong>

**May : Just ignore that and list out our ages in this fic your writing.**

**Me : Right;**

**- May : 16**

**- Kate : 17**

**- Brendan : 16 and a half**

**- Kellyn : 17**

**- Keith : 16 and a half**

**- Rhytmi : 16**

**- Hilda : 15**

**I will list out the rest as the story progress, so I won't spoil the story at all.**

**Brendan : Really, do you really have to put me up with an angry looking May who clearly wants to rip my throat while Kate left me there, alone?**

**Kate : R & R please.**


End file.
